A Rainbow Tale: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
by skyguys05
Summary: Popstar's color has been drained by Claycia. It's now up to Kirby, Bandana Dee and their new friend Elline, the magic paintbrush to journey across Seventopia to get it back. Along the way, the Grab Hands try to snatch Kirby away and each planet have their own dangers. Claycia plans to use the color for her ambitions but the true secret of Popstar's color is a mystery...
1. Colorless Dreamland

**Just to note, this is my first fanfiction that I will be writing. I always wanted to write a fanfic about Rainbow Curse since it was released. I loved the game even though it was short and it wasn't as hard as I thought. This fanfic won't be exactly the same as the game. Either way, I hope you enjoy this story!**

 **Edit (7-15-16): I've edited this chapter as of now. When I was looking back through my fanfiction to prevent plot holes I was a bit disgusted by how this chapter went with words and stuff. So I cleaned it up and fixed some mistakes. I've also added a little bit more dialogue.**

 **Disclaimer: All rights go to Hal Laboratory and Nintendo. I do not own Kirby.**

Chapter 1: Colorless Dreamland

The starry planet of Popstar, contains Dreamland, a cozy place that is practically always peaceful. The green grass, lush plant life, and the blue, sunny sky make it a perfect place to relax. A familiar pink puffball was sitting on top of one of the many hills of Dreamland. He has blue eyes, red feet and short stubs (or whatever you want to call it). His body resembles a circle and he has a great big smile on his face. Some call him Kirby, the hero of Popstar. He loves helping others in need and it occasionally leads to him saving Popstar. There are times where he adventures by himself when Dreamland is in need of saving. Other times he meets new friends before an adventure or he journeys with an existing one. He communicates with others very well despite the only word he knows in his vocabulary is "poyo".

Kirby's stomach grumbled. Thus signifying the perfect time for a snack. He brought out an apple he was saving for later from hammerspace. The apple was very fresh and juicy. Ever since he found it (which was 30 minutes ago), it's been something that he's being dying to snack on.

Before he inhaled the apple, a sudden wind blew by and it caused him to drop the fruit. The apple now rolls down the steep hill. Kirby got up and chased down the fruit. Running down the steep hill caused him to trip. Before he landed on his face, he tucked in his hands and feet (out of instinct) in order to roll like the apple in front of him. He seemed to enjoy rolling down the hill, so much which he almost forgot about what he was doing. The apple rolled into a lake at the bottom of the hill right next to a waddle dee who was using a spear as a fishing rod. The waddle dee noticed the splash of the apple but before he could reach over to it, Kirby accidentally bumps into him, knocking him over, and causing all the fish in his bucket to fall back into the water.

This waddle dee was different from the others Kirby fought in the past. He wore a royal blue bandana on his head and his skin color was slightly more red-orange than a typical waddle dee. And who couldn't forget the trusty spear he owned. This was Bandana Waddle Dee.

"Ouch…" he moaned.

"Poyooooo!" he waved happily at him. His attention was immediately diverted to a butterfly that passed by him.

"Kirby, what was that for?" Bandana Dee asked. "That fish was for King Dedede."

Kirby wasn't paying attention to him. Instead he remembered why he came down the hill. He looked towards the lake and saw the apple floating on the surface.

Bandana Dee sighed. "Some things never change." He then turned towards the sky to get an idea of what time of day it was. But he noticed something unusual occuring.

"What is that?" he wondered.

A strange portal was slowly expanding in the sky. Suddenly, a peculiar rainbow light shined from it. As the light passed over an area, the land in it became gray and lifeless. That light was draining the color from Dreamland.

"What the!" Bandana Dee yelled in shock.

The light moved towards a waddle doo, cappy and broom hatter who were minding their business. When the light passed overhead them, they became gray, lifeless and were unable to move. The rainbow light moved ever closer to Kirby and Bandana Dee.

"Kirby! We need to get out of here right now!" he yelled.

Kirby was staring at the apple with glittering eyes, completely unaware of the event transpiring at the moment.

"Kirby!? Kirby!? We need to-". It was too late. The light passed over them, draining them of their color and leaving them lifeless.

At this point, the whole of Dreamland was completely gray and lifeless. The rainbow light dimmed away and the portal began to close. It was almost fully closed when a twinkle shined from it. A magical pink paintbrush flew out of it. The brush had the colors of a rainbow. It turned around just to see two purple hands appear through the portal. The brush flew away quickly and the hands pursued it. The hands tried grabbing the brush but it was elusive. The hands then tried snatching it from both sides. The brush narrowly avoided the capture but it spun out of control and fell down onto the ground next to Kirby and Bandana Dee.

Its form changed when it landed. Its new appearance retained its rainbow hair but slightly shorter and its body shrunk. It gained half- turquoise, half-lavender wings. Its eyes were blue and had eyelashes. Its face and hands were light peach. It still had a pink body with a red brooch.

"Ow, my head…" she moaned. She looked around and saw the current state of Dreamland.

"The planet's color... is gone. W-What do I do?" she panicked. When she looked at the sky, she saw the two hands coming straight for her.

" _They're coming! I need help fast!"_ She looked around and saw Kirby and Bandana Dee frozen in place. The fairy changed her appearance back into a paintbrush. She quickly stroked over the pair and brought their color back. Unfortunately, they were still unconscious.

"Wake up, wake up!" the fairy said while nudging them on their heads.

The fairy heard a distorted laugh from behind. She turned around and saw the hands closing in on her. She closed her eyes and cowered in fear.

"Oh somebody, please help me!" she cried.

Right before the inevitable happened, a pink figure jumped in out of nowhere and saved her from being grabbed. The hands tumbled to the ground from the force of their own lunge.

"Poyo? Poyo!" Kirby smiled at the fairy.

The fairy opened her eyes saw a glittering Kirby smiling at her. She slightly blushed in his presence. Before she could thank him however, she saw the hands emerge from the ground and got ready to attack again.

"Look out behind you!" she yelled.

Kirby turned around and faced the two hands. The fairy hid behind Kirby. Before Kirby began to fight, Bandana Dee was charging at them from behind at full speed.

He hit both hands with his spear with a huge force. The hands yelped with pain and fled to the portal.

"And stay out!" he yelled at the fleeing hands.

The fairy watched them go through the portal. Once they disappeared completely, she became relaxed. "That was a close one." She sighed in relief.

"Poyo!" Kirby agreed happily.

Kirby was glad that he and Bandana Dee were able to help out the fairy but he realized something was missing.

"But we're not done yet!" the fairy said unexpectedly. "We need to go through that portal and restore color to this world and—hey, are you listening?"

Kirby was looking at his fallen apple in sadness. The once bright, red apple that was a sight for sore eyes and empty stomachs was now gray and probably tasted rotten.

He was snapped back to reality by a bonk on the head by the fairy.

"There, that got your attention didn't it?" She said slightly annoyed.

"Poyo…" Kirby smilled sheepishly

"Now we need to go through that portal to travel to Seventopia. Once there we need to find and defeat Claycia in order to return the color to this planet." she said. "Can you two please help? I-I can't confront her by myself. She scares me."

"I'll be glad to help!" said Bandana Dee. "Kirby, what about you?"

Kirby turned to his apple briefly. Then his face became serious and turned back around. "Poyo!" he said in enthusiasm and determination. He has made a goal to eat the apple firsthand once they come back.

The fairy was very happy with this news. She never thought she would meet anyone who would help her.

"Great! My name is Elline. What are your names?" she smiled.

"I'm Bandana Waddle Dee, but you can call me Bandana Dee for short." He said. "And this is Kirby, the hero of dreamland.

Elline's eyes widen. " _Hero!? Could he be…?"_ she almost squealed in her thoughts.

"Poyo! Poyo! Kabii! Kabii" he yelled in excitement.

"Uh, all he can say is 'poyo.'" Bandana Dee shrugged.

Elline giggled upon knowing this. She now wants to learn a lot more about the two, mainly Kirby.

Once they all got to know each other, Elline drew a magical rainbow rope that leads to the portal. Kirby was still curled up like a ball (and he'll stay that way until he eats his apple) so Elline had to push him onto the rope. Bandana Dee followed after him. The trio ran into the portal, marking the beginning of a new adventure.

 **And there is the first chapter. Let me know your thoughts on the story so far. I will try to post chapter 2 as soon as I can. School work really takes away your time doesn't it?**

 **Edit (7-15-16): Looks much better than before. I'll edit my other chapters at a different date. For now, I must finish chapter 9 for you guys. And for the new readers, I hope you liked this chapter. I encourage you to keep reading. The story will get a bit interesting later on I promise you that. :)**


	2. Green Valley

Chapter 2: Green Valley

 **Hope you guys had a great Christmas. I certainly did. Now here is chapter 2 of A Rainbow Tale. Enjoy my friends.**

 **Edited: 9-29-16**

The two hands that fled Dreamland entered a large fortress. They traveled through a hallway with colorless statues of some sort of a decorative creatures. At the end, there was lone levitating figure is looking at a rainbow-like orb of energy with great interest.

"So did you catch her?" it asked without turning around.

"Noo… Claycia…" said the right hand. "She escaped because… we were beaten…. by someone…." said the left hand.

Claycia turned to them in interest. She was concealed by the darkness. But the only thing they could see of her were part of her purple robes and scarf. The area where her eyes would be glowed in a faint purple.

"What did this… 'someone' look like?" Claycia snarled.

"He was… small... and pink..." said the left hand.

"He had skill…." said the right hand.

Claycia gazed at them for a moment before breaking into a quiet chuckle.

"hmmhmmhmm… very interesting…" she laughed. "Well, let's see what he has in store for us…"

* * *

The rainbow rope led the trio through the portal and into different section of space. Based on the surrounding stars and planetary rings, they are in a completely different galactic arm of Gamble Galaxy. Kirby turned around and saw the portal they came through. He could see that Planet Popstar was no longer sparkling in golden yellow. It is completely gray and dull.

"Here we are, Seventopia!" said Elline.

Seventopia has stars and planetary rings everywhere in its void of space. The worlds are lined up in the order of a rainbow. Each one leads into the next. The first color is green, the yellow and indigo. It was difficult to see the remaining colors from where they were

The trio entered Green Valley. It is very similar to Dreamland's landscape, with grassy hills, few trees etc. The three traveled on a trail in their preferred methods. Kirby was rolling, Bandana Dee was simply walking and Elline was flying alongside them.

Elline explained to them that in order to move on into the next world, they need to restore the rainbow bridge. The bridge connects all the worlds together and they are hidden in mysterious structures. Claycia broke the connection for some reason.

"So Elline, who is Claycia?" Bandana Dee asked.

The rainbow fairy turned towards him and smiled. "Claycia is a very talented artist who loves color sculpting magical clay. We used to be best friends until she-"

"Poyo!" yelled Kirby who was pointing at something ahead.

The two hands from before were waiting for them on the trail.

"Finally…" said the right hand.

"You showed up…" said the left hand.

Elline immediately hid behind Kirby in fear. Kirby was ready to… roll out. Bandana Dee sheathed his spear and got ready for an attack.

"Y-Y-You can talk?" Elline said in shock.

"Yeess…" the right moaned. "We are…"

"…the Grab Hands." The left hand finished. "We have orders… to capture… the pink one…" Both hands pointed straight at Kirby.

"Poyo!" Kirby said in surprise.

"Wait, they're not after me anymore but they're now after…" Elline backed and looked at Kirby with a worried expression. He turned to Elline and smiled reassuring. She was taken back by his confidence and nodded.

"Come and get us... pink one…" they moaned together.

Kirby immediately dash rolled forward. Rolling like a ball wasn't really new to him. The hands made no sudden movements. Right when Kirby was going to collide with left hand, the right hand grabbed him!

"KIRBY!" Elline and Bandana Dee yelled.

"Poyooo!" Kirby yelled. He tried to wiggle his way out of the right hand's grip but it was no use. It's like it had the strength of an iron fist with sticky fingers.

"hmmhmmhmm... bye-bye…" They waved.

The hands turned around and began to fly away. They didn't get too far because Bandana Dee stabbed both of them from behind thanks to Elline's rainbow rope.

"Oucchh…" they moaned while dropping Kirby. "Why you…"

Kirby landed on the ground in one piece. Bandana Dee continued his multi-spear thrusts.

The hands knew they had to retreat again. "We'll be… back…" they said before flying off in the distance.

Elline gave Kirby a tight hug in relief.

"Poyo?" Kirby said in surprise. He smiled and returned the hug.

"I thought they were going to catch you." She said. "Bandana Dee, you did great."

"No one is taking away Kirby when I'm here!" he said happily. "Those pesky Grab Hands will come back so we have to be ready!"

"Yeah!"

"Poyo!"

* * *

The trio entered a big ol' tree in the appearance of a big ol' house. Climbing up the tree wasn't too much of a problem thanks to Elline's rainbow rope.

There were many cottas (which are decorative vessel-like creatures) and bronto burts that were easily defeated by Kirby's rolling dash and Bandana Dee's spear thrusts. Soarers were flying around at the top, looking for targets to strike. As they climbed higher, more sunlight was peeking through the branches.

They reached the top and now have a clear view of the whole valley. They saw a large forest in the distance. There was a tree that in the forest's center that is taller than the surrounding ones.

"That forest seems to be the only place to go. How about we go there?" Elline suggested.

"So you're telling me that we have to climb back down after all that?" Bandana Dee said.

"Uhhh…."

"And I don't see a safe way of us getting back down!?"

"W-well, I… haven't thought of that yet." She said nervously.

Both Kirby and Bandana Dee and exchanged looks. This made Elline feel more awkward.

"L-look, even I didn't know where to go. I just thought we could leave this world from here." She added.

"Hmmmm..." Bandana Dee mumbled.

Before they could move, the branch Kirby and Bandana Dee were standing on snapped. All three of them became wide-eyed. Then gravity caught them.

"Of course this would haaapppeeennnn!"

"Pooooyyyoooo!"

"Oh no!" Elline transformed in her paintbrush form and flew after them as fast as she could. They fell into a deep hole. Elline managed catch up to them and drew a rainbow rope that broke their fall.

"Are the two of you okay?" she said.

"Poyo." He nodded happiliy.

"Yeah, I'm fine." they nodded.

"Looks like… they are down there…." said the left.

"Block… the path…" said the right. They grabbed a nearby boulder and covered the hole.

"Another way… we should… go…" said the left.

"What… happened to the light?" Elline wondered.

"Looks like we are gonna have to take the long way out of this cave." Bandana Dee sighed.

The underground cave is a gorgeous site. There were many waterfalls and uncommon plant life that can survive with little sunlight. However, there were still tons of enemies lurking.

They walked along the grassy path, admiring their surroundings. Then they stumbled upon a large waterfall that is blocking the way.

"Don't worry; my rainbow rope can block anything that comes across it for a short time, including water flow." Elline winked.

" _Good, I don't want my bandana to be wet_." Bandana Dee thought.

They continued through the cave, encountering more waterfalls to go through and enemies to deal with. At one point, they had to jump in a waterfall to travel farther.

"My bandana…" he cried. "It's ruined!"

"Uhhh… It'll dry off soon... right?" Elline questioned.

"T-t-this bandana was given to me by the Great King Dedede! I have dishonored him greatly by getting it wet!" he cried.

Elline decided to stay quiet and ask questions later.

"...and now it almost feels like mush on head!"

"Poyo..." Kirby said. He wasn't paying attention to the waddle dee's ordeal

"Kirby, what is it?" Elline flew closer to him.

The Grab Hands were further up ahead, out of hearing range from the trio. They were talking to each other.

"Not them again…" she moaned.

"We should be able to sneak around them!" Bandana Dee suggested.

"I like that idea, Bandana Dee. Say, maybe we could use your bandana to—"

"No." he interrupted.

They hid behind a rock that is close enough to overhear their conversation.

"They should… be here… somewhere." said the left.

"But where…?" asked the right.

"Just keep… looking…" said the left.

The hands searched around the area. The trio sneaked around them. They were almost out of the hands' hearing until Kirby saw a tomato on the ground near the hands.

"Poyo, poyo, poyo!" he said in excitement.

"Kirby!" Bandana Dee and Elline whispered.

The hands turned to the source of the noise they heard, a large rock. Elline and Bandana Dee were hiding behind it while holding back Kirby from getting to the tomato.

"We could… be… hearing things…" said the left. "Let's search… another place…"

The hands departed to another area of the cave. Kirby immediately jumped out and gobbled the fresh tomato.

"You have a bottomless appetite huh." Elline giggled.

"That's what make him Kirby. You'll love him for who he is." Bandana Dee smiled.

Elline smiled. "We're going to have a lot of fun on this adventure."

"Yeah, it's going to be great. Now let's go before those hands come back."

"Poyo!"

They went ahead with their strong confidence.

 _I can't wait to learn more about my new friends, especially Kirby._ " Elline blushed in her thoughts.

The cave got brighter as they went uphill. Before they knew it, they were above ground again and right in front of the Green Valley woods.

"I didn't think we would be here already." Bandana Dee said..

"Well we made it this far, let's go." said Elline.

"Poyo-poyo."

The forest was easier to navigate through than they thought. The only obstacle they faced were spike balls that are hanging on vines and trees. The closer they got to the central tree, the more spike balls there were.

"The rainbow bridge is here. I'm sure of it." Elline stated.

Once they arrived at the center tree, it started moving. A face appeared at its trunk and it gave a small roar.

"Whispy Woods? How did he get here?" Bandana Dee wondered. "He won't let us pass until we defeat him."

"He certainly doesn't look that tough." Elline said.

Whispy released bronto burts from his crown. He had no form of defense on his face. Kirby attacked him with the rolling dash followed by Bandana Dee's spear thrust. After taking a few blows, Whispy blew them away but it didn't stop their attacks. Whispy then extended vines from his crown and created spike balls along them. He placed them on the ground around him so they couldn't come close on feet.

"It's my turn to help _._ " Elline said. She drew rainbow rope over the spikes that led to Whispy's face. Kirby and Bandana Dee ran onto it and damaged him even more.

Whispy grew furious and whistled for bronto knights. The blue heavy-armored knights appeared from his crown and flew in front of him to act like a shield. Kirby tried attacking him but it was no use because of the amount of brontos blocking his way. A smirk appeared on Whispy's face.

"Ugh… no fair." Elline crossed her arms.

This didn't stop Kirby from attacking and Bandana Dee joined in the fray. The knights couldn't handle the amount of pressure on their heavy armor. They fell to the ground in exhaustion after taking so many hits. Whispy was shocked at the event. Before he could do anything else, Kirby lands the finishing blow. He screams in pain and sheds a tear. The spikes vanished and the enemies fled the area. A rainbow bridge appeared behind Whispy and extended all the way into space. Kirby however was exhausted.

"Kirby! Are you alright?" Elline asked.

"Poyo…" Kirby moaned. His stomach was growling.

"Hey, are you… hungry?" she wondered. Kirby nodded in response.

"Now that you think about it, so am I." Bandana Dee said .

"Don't worry guys, there is food is everywhere in Seventopia. Even in places you don't expect." She winked. "Let's stay here and rest."

"Poyo…" Kirby agreed.

Different types of fruit were growing in the surrounding area. Kirby climbed up each tree and devoured each one he saw. Bandana Dee and Elline had their share of fruit.

"Although… _I wish I had my favorite drink, the rainbow deluxe parfait."_ She thought.

Nighttime came; Kirby and Bandana Dee were already asleep on the branches of a tree. Elline was sitting at the base of the same tree, writing in a diary that she apparently hid somewhere.

She drew a picture of Kirby surrounded by rainbow rope on one page and Bandana Dee on the other.

 _I met a friend today. His name is Kirby. This guy is called Bandana Waddle Dee. New buddies are the best!_

She drew another picture with Kirby being held by the Grab hands and Bandana Dee going after them.

 _Today we were attacked by the scary Grab hands. They almost caught Kirby! Luckily with my help, Bandana Dee stopped them._

She drew Kirby and Bandana Dee battling Whispy Woods.

 _The rest of the day was fun. We climbed a huge tree, but then we got lost in an underground cave. Now Kirby and Bandana Dee just fought a tree named Whispy Woods. Apparently, they both knew who he was. And thanks to them, the rainbow bridge is reformed, allowing us to continue onward! I know this adventure will be fun and I hope that we can make Claycia come to her senses._

 _I believe in the two of them. I still can't believe that I stumbled across them in Dreamland. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here. I have to find a way to repay them for what they did. They're both really strong and great friends. Next time, we're heading to Yellow Dunes._

She closed her diary and put it away. She flew up the tree and laid down onto a branch. She glanced at Kirby who was fast asleep and smiled. She then fell asleep happily.

 **Chapter 2 complete. I hope you all enjoyed. I would really like to know your guys' thoughts on this fanfiction so far. That review button doesn't bite. :)  
Anyways, have a safe and Happy New Year.**


	3. Dig n' Dash in the Dunes

**Yeah... this was a week and a few days later then I thought. For those of you who are wondering, I posted some updates on my deviant account. You guys can go read that if you wish.**

 **Edit 8-9-17: Since I'm in another writer's block regarding Chapter 17 and 18, I'll just fix my multiple first time writer mistakes in this chapter…**

Chapter 3: Dig n' Dash in the Dunes

Somewhere in a faraway location, Claycia is currently conjuring a ritual on the rainbow orb. As she continued to hold out her hands against the chaotic orb, light shined outwards from it.

"Conjuro te Caelum… modo ligna quibus subiciendus est ignis lucidum!"

The orb instantly split apart into four pieces. Three of the pieces rose above the fortress and vanished into the distant stars. Claycia grabbed the remaining piece before her and stared at its beauty. Slowly but surely, it was beginning to manifest into a more stable form. The Grab Hands appeared shortly after.

"We still… have not… caught the pink one…" said the left. "But… with that relic… we can destroy them…."

Claycia was in a trance. But the hands continued to talk, as if they were speaking to someone else.

"Advancing… to Yellow Dunes…" said the right.

"We… don't know… exactly where… they are…" said the left.

"Good." Claycia said unexpectedly. "I now have what I need to continue our objective. Now go back and catch those pesky pests. If they escape again, we will use the ancient relic. They won't stand a chance."

"Yes… Claycia…." both hands said before departing.

Claycia turned around and looked at the Seventopia stars. "Soon my dream will be a reality. The fairy girl may have been lucky that one time but her luck will soon end. Same goes for that pink pest. Although, it feels as if he's been lucky a few occasions before…"

* * *

The trio crossed the rainbow bridge and ended up at Yellow Dunes, a large and vast desert. Many small hills and plateaus were present in the area. Some ancient clay artifacts are peaking above ground.

The sunlight and heat was unforgiving. In addition, the path would slightly swallow Bandana Dee's feet as he walked. For Kirby, he was slightly sunk into the ground but he could still roll about almost freely.

Bandana Dee pointed at a large opening in the ground. "Let's travel underground to beat this intense heat."

"Underground? I don't know about that." Elline said. "There are a lot of… ancient clay down there that can crush us if we are not careful."

"Pfft, ancient clay. If anything, we should really worry about—"

"Where... are… they…!?" a loud and familiar voice yelled.

"Those guys…" Bandana Dee finished. "We better hurry up and decide, Elline."

She didn't want to risk having them be captured. "Looks like we have no other choice." Elline sighed.

The voices were getting louder. They quickly jumped into the hole and went about halfway in the tunnel. They could hear the echo of those voices.

"I saw… them! They… were… here…!"

"We'll find… them… soon. Claycia… is waiting."

"This is... a waste of time..."

"Yess... but the sooner... we do it... the sooner we get... to fufill... our plans..."

The Hands departed somewhere. The trio sighed of relief once they couldn't hear their voices.

"Kirby, I can't think of the unimaginable things Claycia would do to you if they caught you." Elline said abruptly. "I want you to stay close to me. No one will take you away from me!"

"Poyo?" Kirby gave a confused look at her.

"What's with the sudden change of moods?" Bandana Dee asked suspiciously.

"Oh, uh it's... nothing personal." she blushed. "We should... get going!" She pushed Kirby along very suddenly while continuing to blush. Bandana Dee quickly ran after them, snickering to himself.

Unlike the cave at Green Valley, it was dusty, full of sand and also dim. That wouldn't stop them from moving forward. Elline cut through the sand that was blocking their way with her rainbow rope. Occasionally, Drill cottas attempted to ambush them from out of the sand. Ancient Grindalls were also stuck in the sand. They would drop like thwomps if the sand around them disappeared.

The trio came across a passage that's blocked by a large door. Right next to the door, there was a small, narrow path with spikes sticking out. An iron ball is half-buried in the sand.

"This will be tricky but I can guide this iron ball down those spikes. Maybe it'll activate a switch." Elline said.

Kirby dug the iron ball out of the sand and rolled it towards Elline. She transformed and pushed the ball carefully through the path until it rolled on its own towards the switch.

The door didn't budge but Kirby felt a rumble beneath him. He dug in that spot and found a key.

"This place seems more like a dungeon then some sort of underground cave." Bandana Dee said.

The area after the door had a Mega Grindall that is resting on top of a fragile sand pile. Elline cut through the sand causing it to fall. It cleared out some enemies and obstacles in its path below. Eventually, the trio ended up in an area surrounded by sand.

A drilling noise was then heard from above as sand fragments fell from the ceiling.

"What is that noise?" Bandana Dee wondered.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't sound too good." Elline looked around and saw a small, open cubby. "Let's hide over there!"

They ventured to the cubby as fast as possible. Mega Drill cotters appeared from the sand above not long after and dug into the ground.

Kirby noticed a cannon behind them. He signaled Elline and Bandana Dee to get in.

" _Why are these things in weird places_?" Elline thought.

They were blasted through the drill cottas, defeating them instantly then through the sand until they were above ground again.

"Finally, fresh air! It was so hard to breathe down there!" Elline cried in relief. "I think we've come a long way too."

"Poyo!" Kirby agreed.

"Uhhhhh…." Bandana Dee mumbled.

"Poyo?"

"Bandana Dee, what is it?"

"Is it me or are those a lot of monsters coming our way?" he replied.

A horde of clay monsters were in the distance. It contained of cottas, bombsaways, and bronto burts. The Grab Hands was leading them.

"There...!" the right hand said.

"Get… them!" the hands yelled simultaneously.

"Run!" Elline should

The trio ran off as fast as they could with the enemy horde slowly catching up. Elline quickly drew rainbow rope to help them escape faster. They managed to get away in another underground tunnel. To their surprise, it wasn't as deep as the last one.

"Look there, it's a canvas stand!" Elline yelled.

Kirby and Bandana Dee were confused about what it is.

"It's where artists like me, draw pretty pictures. We use our imaginations to picture what to draw and then we create the masterpiece." She said excitedly. "It is my favorite thing to do."

"How is this gonna help us, Elline?" Bandana Dee asked.

"Easy! I can use my drawings to transform Kirby." She replied.

Both of them were stunned. They had no idea that she had that sort of power. It's possible that she was hiding even more potential.

After thinking for some time, Elline transformed into her paintbrush form and brushed over the canvas. The picture she drew was a white tank with brown spots over it. She transferred the drawing onto Kirby and he resembled Rick the hamster.

"I think you have the wrong drawing…" Bandana Dee said.

"Oopsy, my bad." Elline stuck out her tongue playfully. She repainted Kirby into the actual drawing she intended, the Kirby Tank. His feet became tank wheels and his mouth turned into a nozzle. Elline also created a cannon for Bandana Dee to use.

"There! With this, we can go through the horde." Elline said excitedly.

"Looks like my spear won't do its job today." Bandana Dee mumbled.

"Your spear hasn't done anything today though." The fairy narrowed her eyes.

"Good point…" Bandana Dee said after a moment's silence.

"Well, those transformations won't last for too long so we better start moving."

"Aww what!?" Bandana Dee moaned.

"teehee, sorry. It's out of my control."

Once Kirby got used to his new body they headed back above ground. The monsters waiting for them were surprised when they saw Kirby's new appearance. Despite the initial shock, they continued to advance towards the trio. Kirby shot down the bronto burts in the air. Bandana Dee took care of Bouncy sis's on the ground. Bombzaways hovered above them while holding bombs but they were shot down quickly. The two of them blasted through the remaining enemies and confronted the Grab Hands.

"You… made it…" they said.

Elline was still scared of them but she feels safer at Kirby's side.

He fired a cannon at them but the attack was blocked by a blue bronto burt. Soon a mass of them surrounded the trio.

"Have… fun…. Hmmhmmhmm…" they laughed while flying away. The bronto burts were slowly approaching the trio.

"W-what do we do!?" Elline yelled.

"There are too many of them! Kirby, have any… wait what?."

Kirby was in a state of focus.

"Uhh… Kirby?" Elline questioned.

Then all of a sudden, he opened his mouth wide and revealed more nozzles. He slightly grew in size as more nozzles appeared from the sides of his body. The bronto burts stopped in fear. Kirby fired a wave of missiles at them, defeating most of them at once. The remaining survivors fled the scene

"Kirby… that was amazing." Elline said in awe.

"….poyo…. poyo…"

"It's amazing how you figured that out so quickly." Bandana Dee said.

This move drained most of his energy. He only had enough to move around.

The entire enemy horde was defeated and there was no sign of the Grab Hands. The sun began to set. Kirby was eventually transformed back to normal and continued his rolling habit. Bandana Dee's cannon disappeared. They had a small break and a chance to eat the fruits they brought along from earlier.

At nighttime, they saw a large ruined building in the distance…

 **And there's chapter 3. I'm guessing you guys were surprised about that what Claycia said at the beginning of the chapter that split apart Popstar's color. Well, I would go into detail about that but not right now :)**


	4. Hooplagoon's Long Lost Ruins

**So I noticed that I submit a new chapter twice a month or so. Let's try to maintain that goal. Or even go for greater heights, like once a week. Like that's gonna happen :P.**

 **Edit 8-9-17: These chapter edits are more consistent (not really) than my usual uploads.**

Chapter 4: Hooplagoon's Long Lost Ruins

There was a large ruined-like castle in the middle of the desert. The front had some sort of a large ancient clay relic hanging just above the door. That relic looks like the place was made to worship that said material. The Grab Hands were inside plotting their next move.

"This plan… will work….?" asked the right.

"… It will…" said the left. "The pest… will be caught… at last."

"But… what if… they don't come here…"

"They will. The… only way… to the ocean is through… this castle…" the left hand said. "Besides… I noticed something… about the pink pest… that may be his weakness…"

"So... that's why... those...?" the right said.

"Yes..." the left replied.

"How did...?"

"Not... important..." the left hand interrupted.

* * *

After half a day's worth of travelling, the trio finally stood in front of the ancient castle.

"It's strange to see a lone structure in the middle of the desert." Bandana Dee said.

"Poyo... poyo..." Kirby's stomach growled but this went unnoticed by the other two.

"There should be a rainbow bridge here but..." Elline said.

"It doesn't look very safe. We should look around on the outside." Bandana Dee said.

"We may be exposed to any surprise encounter." she responded. "Who knows where those scary hands could be…"

"Those cowardly hands ran off before they could suffer our wrath!" Bandana Dee said with glee.

While the two were debating on what to do, Kirby picked up a scent of delicious food.

"Poyo…" he drooled. He started rolling his way towards the source of the scent which is inside the building.

"These ruins are too suspicious for us to just walk in." Bandana Dee said.

"I don't see any other- wait where's Kirby?" Elline asked after noticing an absence.

They saw the puffball rolling mindlessly into the ruins. The duo began to chase him down.

"Hey Kirby! Where are you going!?" Bandana Dee yelled.

"What's gotten into him?" Elline asked.

"No idea. But it must have something to do with food." he said.

"That reminds me, how much can he eat?"

"I don't know, a lot..."

"And we didn't eat much today too." she replied.

"Well, the only things we ate were an apple for each of us. Kirby on the other hand swallowed two oranges and mangoes. That's definitely not enough for him… that's… for… sure." Bandana Dee gulped.

Elline and Bandana Dee exchanged a look of horror and sped up their pace. Kirby was rolling faster than before.

"Kirby, wait up! Don't go in there!" Bandana Dee yelled.

As soon as he said that, a small horde of cottas appeared from out of the ground and stopped Bandana Dee and Elline in their tracks.

"T-the Grab Hands must be behind this. Kirby nooo! I told you not to leave me!" Elline cried.

"Draw a rope, Elline!" Bandana Dee commanded.

She drew the rope into the air. They couldn't get too far because soarers blocked their way.

"Elline, you have to rescue Kirby! You can fly and I can't. I can fight these guys!" Bandana Dee readied his spear.

"But… but I'm scared…" Elline shook

"Didn't you say that Claycia would do unimaginable things to Kirby if he got caught." he said.

 _"Yeah I did... and he's our only hope..."_ she thought.

Despite her fears, she pressed on for Kirby's sake. She flew below the rope but not too close to the cottas and continued pursuing Kirby. The rainbow rope was fading away as Bandana Dee was knocking out the soarers. Once it dried out, he performed a moon drop into the cotta crowd.

Kirby entered the ruins and Elline followed shortly after. The door closed immediately.

 _"Good luck, you guys."_ Bandana Dee thought as he performed fancy spear attacks on the foes.

The entrance room was dark all-around except in the center, where the moonlight shined on the food that Kirby was trying to get to. There were tomatoes, hot dogs, grapes and other types of foods piled up. One could see a path, beyond the food pile.

"Poyo!" Kirby gobbled it down as if he hasn't eaten in years.

"Kirby, you're such a glutton…" Elline sighed and face palmed.

"You fell… right… into our trap…" said a voice. Claycia… would love to see…. the two of you… hmmhmmhmm…"

Kirby stopped eating and looked around. Elline clung to Kirby in fear. The Grab Hands appeared out the darkness to snatch him. Kirby noticed the ambush beforehand and moved himself and Elline out of harm's way in the last second.

"Give up…" said the right.

"Kirby, we're outmatched. We have to run." Elline said.

Kirby nodded and rolled ahead. Elline quickly followed.

"Come back here!" the hands shrieked.

Being pursued by the hands weren't their only problem. The pair had to maneuver around traps such as blados and gordos and dodge bzztbulbs blocking their way.

The hands appeared in a circular area filled with pillars. They noticed freshly created rainbow rope that lead into an eastern room.

"Nowhere to go... for them..." said the left.

They followed the rope through the corridor. The rope itself was drawn all over the corridor walls. Before they realized anything, the rope faded away and revealed lasers pointing directly at them. The dumbfound hands triggered the ambush and got blasted to oblivion. Kirby and Elline heard screams from the hallway they lured them too. They peeked out of a pillar and saw a flash of blue light from the east hallway. They could briefly make out the bodies of the hands on the ground

They exchanged high fives and went into the western room to continue. The thought didn't occur to Elline until now but it was just her and Kirby adventuring, at least for the time being. The fact how it's just the two of them adventuring together so soon would make her scream in joy but she was too nervous to make a move…

* * *

Bandana Dee helplessly stared at the door. He had no idea on how to get inside to help Kirby and Elline. He pondered around, trying to find a solution to this mess.

He came to the conclusion that he had to go around, despite his second thoughts. Before he went, he noticed something ominous at the top of the castle.

"I had… my doubts…" the right hand said.

"But… we know… his weakness…" the left hand stated. "We… just had… a minor… setback…"

The right hand sighed. "You idoit…"

"Whatever... I'm… the thinker…" the left hand bragged. "Anyways… the relic… is ready…"

"Should we stay…?" the right hand asked.

"No… we will… return to the fortress… for now…" said the left. They departed into the sky.

Bandana Dee watched the two figures fly into the sky and disappeared. He then moved onwards.

* * *

Navigating the ruins was much easier without a pair of hands hunting you down. But the duo encountered another problem, a closed door with no way of opening it.

"Kirby, I don't see a way to open this door." Elline said.

Kirby looked around to find any clues. He saw something gold peeking out of the sand at the other side of the room. He rolled his way over to the gold spot. When he was near the object, it rose into the air and grew in size. The gold object was a key hidden in the ground. The bow of the key gained a face and it knocked Kirby into the wall.

"Kirby! Are you alright? Elline flew over to him and helped him up.

"Poyo, poyo..." he nodded.

The grinkey maliciously laughed and flew around in the air at fast speeds. Kirby tried attacking it, but the grinkey eluded each one of his attacks. Eventually, he noticed a pattern the grinkey moves in. It goes around in a circle, then zigzags back to the circle's starting point and repeats. Kirby waited for the pattern to start over then he used his rolling dash on it. The grinkey screamed and reverted into a normal key. However, the door didn't have a lock so the key was useless.

Elline sighed and sat down to think. Kirby noticed three small stone faces a wall. One was bright and happy while the other two were dark and sad. He approached these shapes out of curiosity. The moment he got close to the happy face, the light dimmed away and it became sad. He went to the other two faces and they lit up. Figuring out the puzzle, he lit up the face that he made sad. The door rumbled a bit before it finally opened and they are able to continue.

"Kirby, you're incredible!" She proceeded to hug him. "How did you find out the clue to opening the door?"

"Poyo..." Kirby slightly blushed at the praise he received. He was also happy to get another hug.

The duo continued onwards. There were more lasers fired at them but they were shielded by the rainbow rope. There was another face puzzle but it is surrounded by rays of lasers. Elline carefully maneuvered around them to allow Kirby to activate them and open the next blocked door.

As the door opened, a mecha cotta exited from it. It was very weak and worn out. There weren't enough bzztbulbs to power it. Kirby rammed into it a couple times and it broke.

"Teehee, is that all they got?" Elline said confidently.

They've been travelling inside for a while. It'll only make sense for them to think that they are almost at the end. And they were right. There is just one more corridor that is full of laser traps and blado traps. They easily avoided the last few traps and ended up outside where a familiar face awaited the duo.

"Kirby! Elline! You guys are okay!" Bandana Dee yelled in relief.

"Poyo!" Kirby greeted him.

"Of course we are!" she smiled. But how did you get here?"

"Going around was my only choice. I couldn't get that door open. I had my doubts on getting here." He said. "Also, I saw the Grab hands leave the ruins and fly into the sky."

"That's a relief..." Elline said.

"After I single-handily defeated those cottas, things didn't get easy." Bandana Dee continued. "There was a ton of wandering enemies. I don't know if there were guards or bandits or what. Then I ended up here. That door you guys came out of was closed. I pulled a lever over there to open it. I didn't want to go in because I thought if I waited here, you guys would eventually show up."

"So getting separated helped us as much as it hindered us." Elline said. "But now that we are together again, let's not get separated again."

"Poyo!" Kirby nodded.

Elline turned to Kirby. "We got separated because of you, silly."

Kirby had a look of confusion. He never thought about how the events from earlier happened. In fact, he didn't even pay attention to the ruckus that was going on behind him.

"That's Kirby for you." Bandana Dee shrugged.

Elline never had any doubts towards the pink hero from the beginning. She doesn't mind his insane appetite, language, and thought process. In fact, this makes Elline even more curious about who Kirby really is.

The united trio finally continued their adventure in the ruined courtyard. They didn't realize it before but there were two ruined castles. The larger one blocked the view of the smaller one from the front. The second building had only one entrance... and it is blocked by a locked door.

"Another door and this one has a lock on it..." Elline sighed.

Kirby had a devious smile on his face, a smile that looks like he has solved a problem. He brought out a key from hammerspace and opened the door.

 _"I haven't seen that smile since our Crystal Shard Adventure when you pulled out your Warp Star phone."_ Bandana Dee thought.

"I completely forgot about that key. And now there's another good reason why getting separated wasn't as bad as we thought."

The hallway was decorated with grindarrs. The relatively small building just had one room at the end.

"The rainbow bridge should be over there in that room _."_ Elline said. "I can sense it."

The trio entered through the door and into the circular room. Realizing that there was nothing here, they turned around to leave only to find out that the door closed on them. The only thing here was massive clay-like relic hanging at the top of the room. The relic opened its eyes and removed itself from the wall. Its rotating body is separated in 4 parts of ancient clay shells. 3 parts looked like it was fragile and one part was solid and strong.

"I am Hooplagoon of the ruins!" it announced. "You three have trespassed into my ruins the master has entrusted to me! You will be destroyed!"

 _"Master? Would that be Claycia?"_ Elline thought.

"Poyo!" Kirby yelled while assuming a battle stance. Bandana Dee brought out his spear and Elline stayed at the back of the room.

The battle started with Hooplagoon trying to ram into them, but they dodged the attack. Hooplagoon continued attacking but the duo continued dodging each attack. Kirby saw an opening and he used his rolling dash onto one of its clay shells, destroying it in the process and damaged Hooplagoon.

"That's it! Just keep going!" Elline cheered.

"Not bad, but it's over now!" Hooplagoon yelled. He slightly grew in size and continued his attack. He fired a laser from an opening in his shells at the duo but they dodged yet again. Bandana Dee struck another clay shell twice with his spear and destroyed it.

Hooplagoon growled at them and increased in size again. He created an electrical shield to protect himself while at the same time using it for offense. The relic was already moving slower due to its increased size but using the shield slowed him down even more.

Once the shield faded away, Kirby and Bandana Dee destroyed the third shell. Hooplagoon was in pain and anger. His grew again to his largest size and fired four omnidirectional lasers. Elline shielded Kirby and Bandana Dee with her rainbow rope at the last minute. Hooplagoon rammed into the walls in frenzy, damaging the structure they were in. The ceiling was collapsing and the building was shaking as if it was in an earthquake.

"It's too dangerous to stay! Bandana Dee yelled. "We have to get out."

A large stone ceiling fragment fell directly on the final clay shell, destroying it in the process. Hooplagoon ceased activity and fell onto the ground. The locked door reopened.

"I… I can only use my l-last resort." it said. Hooplagoon closed its eyes and started glowing red.

"I think he's going to blow!" Elline yelled.

The trio wasted no time in trying to get out. They narrowly escaped in time as Hooplagoon's explosion reduced the structure to rubble. The rainbow bridge shined from the rubble and went into the sky.

"Poyo… poyo" Kirby said while looking around.

"That was a close one but we did it." Elline said.

"This was a long and crazy day..." Bandana Dee moaned.

Later on in the evening, Kirby and Bandana Dee were asleep on the sand. Elline was seated on a piece of rubble and was writing in her secret diary.

 _Going through a desert wasn't easy at all. Those Hands and cottas kept trying to get us. Kirby and Bandana Dee defeated all of them with my help. I gave Bandana Dee a cannon and I turned Kirby into a tank. At first, I turned him into brown hamster because I wanted to see how cute he was._

She illustrated the events onto the following page before writing more.

 _We then saw a huge, ruined castle. Kirby went in blindly due to his gluttonous appetite (Who would have thought food would be in there). With Bandana Dee's encouragement, I went in to save him from the Grab Hands. If it involves a type of food, Kirby would completely lose it. It makes me wanna learn more about him. His stomach must be as large as the galaxy itself._

She drew the castle along with the obstacles they faced together.

 _We reunited with Bandana Dee outside. And now we just defeated a monster named Hooplagoon. Claycia must have created that to stop us but that didn't happen of course. This adventure is far from over. I have a feeling things will continue to get harder as well go from world to world. But I believe in my friends. We can do this together no matter what Claycia tries to throw at us._

 **For those of you who don't know or remember, the moon drop was one of Spear Kirby and Bandana Dee's moves from Kirby's Return to Dreamland and Kirby Triple Deluxe. It's an aerial attack where you input down on d-pad and 1 on wii-remote (B in Triple Deluxe) and you spiral downwards with the spear all the way until you hit the ground. Just wanted to bring it up.**


	5. Indigo Ocean Beach

**First of all, I'm so excited for Kirby Planet Robobot. Those 4 Kirby series amiibo… I want my hands on them** **. Second, today (March 8** **th** **) is my birthday, I'm 18 now. Happy birthday to me :P. Don't give me a present, I'll give you guys one instead; this chapter. I was going to upload this last week but I pushed it back for an obvious reason. That doesn't mean that I'm gonna upload once a week. Impossible for a lazy guy like me. This conversation has gone on for too long. Just read this lousy fanfic and enjoy.**

Chapter 5: Indigo Ocean

"That pink pest sure knows how to be a nuisance." Claycia snarled.

"We… are sorry…" the hands said.

"Their luck is the only thing that keeps them going." Claycia said. "Head to the palace and wait for what I'll send you.

"Yesss…" the hands said before departing into the stars.

Claycia watched them fly over to a cloudy world.

"hmmhmmhmm... I'll let them go for now. Then when they leave the ocean, I'll strike them down when they don't expect it." She said ominously.

* * *

As it's name suggests, Indigo Ocean was a large and beautiful ocean with numerous tropical islands. The nice sunlight and the calm sea breeze would make a great place for a vacation.

"I feel so relaxed. I would love to jump in and swim the world's seven seas for pure enjoyment." Bandana Dee daydreamed. _"But does this world even have seven seas?"_

"I think someone else is gonna beat you to that." Elline pointed at Kirby who was swimming in the water happily.

"Poyo! Poyo! Poyo!"

"Don't forget about me, Kirby!" Bandana Dee took off his bandana and jumped in.

The splash radius was wide enough to reach Kirby. Kirby retaliated by inhaling some water then spitting it at him the moment he surfaced. It then became a contest of splashing water at each other in any way they can. Both of them noticed that they were missing one individual.

Elline was sitting at the beach, lost in thoughts all alone. She would love to hang out with them but she didn't want them to tell them that she doesn't like to swim.

"Hey, are you going to join us?"

She snapped back to reality in an instant and looked directly at them.

"Hehehe, no thanks. I'll just watch you guys have fun." she smiled.

Bandana Dee shrugged then continued playing with Kirby. Elline pulled out her diary and instant camera. While they weren't looking, she took a few pictures of them and taped it to her diary. She labeled that section _Beach Memories_.

 _"I need pictures of all of us at the beach together."_ While gazing at the sand, she had an idea...

Kirby and Bandana Dee were enjoying themselves in the water. The pair decided swam back to the beach to check on a certain rainbow fairy. They saw Elline's rainbow hair sticking out in the sand. Curious about her state, they went to see what was up.

Elline was waiting for them to come. "There you guys are. I now present to you, my sand mermaid."

The sand sculpture was twice her size and it showed no sign of falling apart. Both were very impressed by her work. They could only wonder how long it took her to make that.

"How do I look?" She winked.

"Poyo!" Kirby complimented. He was still looking at her mermaid design.

Elline blushed. "Thank you, Kirby."

"Why is there a pile of sand behind you?" The waddle dee asked as he tied his bandana on his head.

"Oh, that's not just a pile of sand? It's a sand bodybuilder. I was planning a sculpture for all of us but these two were the only ones that came to mind." Elline said.

Bandana Dee got a closer look at it. The hole at where the head would go is too small for him.

"That one is for Kirby." She turned to Kirby. "I want to see how you look like in the sand."

"Poyo." He agreed. He rolled into it and somehow positioned his face upwards.

Elline grinned. "It's lucky I have a camera for times like this." The instant camera was by her side.

"Where did you get that from?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"I hold a lot of material that comes in handy. Mind if you take the photo?"

"Errr, okay." Bandana Dee said disappointed. He wanted to bury himself in the sand with the others.

Bandana Dee got into a good angled position. Before he took the photo, the waddle dee noticed a button that can delay the snapshot of a photo. His hope of being in the picture lifted and he set the timer without knowing that it only lasts for 3 seconds. In his realization of that fact, he ran as carefully and quickly as possible. At the 2 second mark, he tripped and only his feet made it on scene.

"Oooh, I wanna see." Elline said while floating out of the sand, almost ignoring the fact that Bandana Dee tripped.

"Why... did you come out of the sand mermaid?" Bandana Dee groaned in an annoyed way.

"I've been in there for too long and I really wanted to get out. I was wondering when will you guys finish swimming." she smiled.

The photo would be marked as a snapshot of their journey. It would be complete if Bandana Dee made it in on time.

"I wanted to retake it but you got out so quickly..."

"Sorry." she shrugged with a smile on her face.

"And what is this book?" Bandana Dee picked up the book that was left forgotten by Elline.

"No! Don't look in there!" she screamed. She snatched the book away from him and held it behind her. If she wasn't fast enough, Bandana Dee would have seen the first page.

If Bandana Dee had a mouth, it would be wide open in shock. He's never seen her so worked up before.

Elline scratched her head. "Sorry, Bandana Dee. I didn't want anyone to see what's inside. It's… personal."

"Uhhh, that's fine…." Bandana Dee was still stunned by her sudden aggressiveness.

"A-An-Anyways, let's forget this fiasco and go." Elline turned around to the sand bodybuilder only to find out that it's been replaced by a deep hole. Sand is being thrown out from inside.

"I wonder what Kirby's doing." she said.

"He must have found something. Let's wait for him to finish digging."

Eventually, Kirby climbed out of the hole with a treasure chest in his hands. It's unknown what caused him to dig in that spot.

"Poyo, poyo, poyo!" he yelled happily.

"Who would have thought that there was a treasure chest right under our noses... literally." Elline said in surprised.

"Don't just stand there buddy. Open it." Bandana Dee said.

He set the chest down in front of him. He tried opening up the lid but it didn't budge. It was stuck in place.

"There's always has to be a catch doesn't it?" Elline sighed.

"We might as well carry it around until we find out how to open this." Bandana Dee suddenly had second thoughts. "But that'll be too tiresome and we have a job to do."

"We could just put it away, like what we've been doing." Elline suggested.

Kirby grabbed the chest again and opened wide.

"NOT… in your mouth Kirby, but where we always put our stuff." Elline pulled the chest away from him. "Such as Bandana Dee's spear, my book and camera and other stuff."

"Oh, that place. How did I forget about it? Isn't there like name for that or something?" Bandana Dee asked.

"Yes, there should be one. It's rarely mentioned by name. I believe it's called…"

* * *

Kirby happily led the group on the beach. Elline suggested that they should go to some of the islands to see if they can find the rainbow bridge and they thought it was a good idea. A nice sea breeze kicked in and light ocean waves reached far up the beach.

"Hey Elline, I have been meaning to ask you something. Bandana Dee said in a somewhat serious tone.

"Oh, sure. What is it?" she replied.

"Do you… know why Claycia stole the color from Popstar?" he asked.

She stopped in place and looked down sadly. Bandana Dee suddenly felt guilty about the question. Kirby noticed her poor state and wondered what was wrong.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to open any wounds."

"No, no, it's fine. I was going to tell you guys eventually." She murmured.

"Hey, it's okay if you don't want to say anything." Bandana Dee reassured.

"Poyo..." Kirby said sadly.

"No, it's okay. You guys have to know sooner or later." she sighed. "Back then, Claycia was a very compassionate sorceress who loves to create material out of clay."

"Here's a picture of her." Elline pulled out a photo and showed it to them.

Claycia was taller than they thought. She wore a purple robe, two pairs of purple shoes and a light-pink scarf. She also wore an artist hat and her long blue hair covered her eyes. Like Elline, she can levitate but she doesn't have wings on her back. Both of them looked really happy in the photo.

"You see, Claycia creates material with her magical clay and I paint them to life with my magical paint." Elline said sadly. "We were creating Seventopia together, a world for anyone to come and live together in. Then one day, she took off and never came back."

Elline's face fell and her voice was getting weaker.

"While I was searching for her, I saw a fortress that I have never seen before. It looked… so evil... and Claycia would never make something like that. I needed to help her but I knew I couldn't do it alone, so I ran off to find help.

She looked at Kirby. "I heard about a hero who saved Planet Popstar multiple times. Kirby, I knew that you would be the only one who could help me.

"Poyo…" he said.

She looked away as tears were falling down her cheeks. "Then those hands came after me before I could enter the portal to your world. And Claycia used that opportunity to steal the color from your world. We used to be best friends but now she scares me. There just has to be something I can do to help her."

Elline burst into tears. To think that her best friend suddenly vanished on her for a while then attack her for no reason. It would make anyone unhappy.

Kirby held her hand to help her feel better. Elline took notice of this and smiled softly.

"Don't worry Elline; we're all in this together. We'll find out Claycia's cause then we'll save her together." Bandana Dee lifted his spear in the air.

She glanced at the two of them and smiled even more. "You two are really good friends. I'm lucky to have met you." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Let's go. We still have a long way to go."

"Poyo!" Kirby continued to lead the way. Bandana Dee and Elline followed him as their motivation doubled since the start of the journey.

 **The chapter can't be happy the whole time can't it :). And what's in that chest you ask? I don't really know but we'll find out together. Regardless, I had fun writing this chapter. Ideas flew through my head as I edited. Also, I'll start putting the chapter titles on the text. I realized that mobile users can't see the chapter names. Sorry about that.**


	6. The Dethskullks' Haunted Ship

**This chapter was gonna be released a few days ago but I got lazy and well... other stuff and yeah...**

 **Chapter 6: The Dethskullks' Haunted Ship**

Kirby and Bandana Dee were heavily motivated with their mission as they marched forward on the beach. Elline was behind them. She is incredibly grateful for the support she has gained but she was still sad about bringing up her past.

5 minutes later, the trio saw something that would lead them off-shore, a wooden raft. It was large enough to hold all three of them. And it had a small white sail that's in perfect condition and a steering wheel that's missing some of its handles.

"Whoever made this must really know what they're doing." Bandana Dee said.

They can only wonder about the origin of the raft and how it ended up on the beach. They pushed it in the water and jumped on. The wind caught the sail and it began moving towards a nearby island.

The ocean water from island to island wasn't in a calm state. The waves made the raft rock back and forth.

"I don't... feel so good. Can't... this raft... move any faster?" A nauseous Bandana Dee said.

Kirby didn't mind the raft's motion. In fact, he was having fun rolling back and forth with the raft. On the other hand, Elline was sitting at the other end of the raft. The raft's motion didn't seem to bother her at all. She gazed at the sea sadly.

Bandana Dee noticed that Elline was strangely silent. " _She's probably thinking about Claycia..."_ Hecovered the area of his face where his mouth would be. "Oomph... oh... no..."

He quickly ran to an unoccupied side and... "released the contents from within". Kirby rolled up to him and patted his back.

Elline giggled a bit upon noticing her friend in a sick state. Memories filled her mind as she turned back around.

* * *

 _Flashback_

Green Valley had a slight different scenery. There were an even smaller amount of flowers and the grass is a deep shade of green. Elline was sitting on a hill with Claycia. Both were admiring their finished product.

"That took a lot more work than I thought." Elline said cheerfully.

"It has indeed, Elline. And we still have a more work to do if we are going complete our goal." Claycia smiled.

"Have you thought of a name?" she asked.

Claycia laughed. Her laugh was very cheerful. "Oh, I'll tell you later… it'll be easier for you to understand once we finish."

"Aww come on, Please Claycia."

"I should know by now that you're persistent, my fairy friend." Claycia chuckled again. "Okay then, the name of the worlds will be called…

Elline widen her eyes. When it comes to names, Claycia would pick the most peculiar yet beautiful ones that she never thinks of.

...Seventopia."

Elline gasped in surprised. "Seven... topia? Why that name. It doesn't sound so pretty."

"But it is pretty in a sense. Claycia replied with the same cheerful tone. Seven comes from the seven planets that we will make together. The planets' colors will be based on your beautiful rainbow hair—"

"Aww, thank you…" she blushed.

Claycia smiled. "And the fact that the worlds will be lined up in the order of a rainbow… also….

"Also?" she asked with a curious tone.

"Also… it will represent a utopia and a home. I wish for all the homeless creatures in Gamble Galaxy to settle and call this place home. They'll all unite and bond together." Claycia looked towards the sky. That's where I got the name Seventopia from. The rainbows in the sky represent a new hope to all who see and that's where these planets come to mind."

Elline eyes watered. "C-Claycia, I'm sorry. I never thought that you had a lot of meaning to that name."

Claycia chuckled. "Elline, don't cry. You simply didn't know. It took me some time to think of a name."

Elline smiled at her.

"I think we've had ourselves a good break." Claycia stood up. "It's time to move on to the next planet. We'll design it as an ancient desert so those who prefer the heat and sand can live there."

 _"_ _A desert huh. Who would live in a sun-baked oven?"_ Elline thought.

Now I hope you didn't forget the chant for us to color it." Claycia teased.

"Of-of course not! I'll never forget it."

Claycia laughed. "Now... shall we continue?"

"Yes, let's go."

Elline transformed into her paintbrush form. Claycia grabbed the handle and muttered words in her mouth. Both of them suddenly began glowing in vibrant colors. Claycia flew into the sky at a fast speed to the area of space that would become Yellow Dunes.

* * *

 _Present_

The raft hit the island's beach shore at a fast speed. The collision caused it to slowly break apart.

"Finally, we're back on land! It felt like we were on that raft forever." Bandana Dee cried.

"It's only been about 5 minutes." Elline giggled.

"And this beach doesn't seem to have anything to help us. We might as well go onto the mainland." Bandana Dee suggested.

The tropical island was a bit larger than the previous one. It had some trees bearing fruit to eat. Kirby practically inhaled the fruit on each tree he saw, while Elline and Bandana Dee had some pairs of oranges.

Once they made it to the other side of the island, they saw a half-sunken ship that is trapped in-between piles of ocean rocks. The ship was surrounded by ominous, light purple fog. The sale had an appearance of a skull with horns.

"If this is the only different thing we've seen so far, then that means that the rainbow bridge should be in there _."_ Bandana Dee assumed.

"T-that ship..." Elline mumbled fearfully and quietly.

"Oh look. another cannon!" Bandana Dee pointed at the cannon alongside the beach. "We can use that to blast ourselves over to the ship. Let's go Kirby."

"Poyo!"

Elline watched them go by. She apperently knew the dangers of what the ship contains. And she needed to tell them as soon as possible.

Bandana Dee and Kirby approached the cannon. They were just about to hop in until...

"Guys..." Elline suddenly spoke up.

Kirby and Bandana Dee stopped and turned towards her in confusion.

"I… I think I know what that ship contains…" she played with her hands nervously. "Claycia has told me about a lot of bad guys to watch out for. That includes undead dethskullk pirates that can suck the life out of you. They roam throughout the galaxy until they find a place to lure victims in. And this ship matches their description perfectly."

"Wait what!?" Bandana Dee shrieked.

"Poyo..." Kirby said in a serious tone.

"However, they move very slowly and they have bad hearing and vision. We can be on the surface of water and they can't see us."

Bandana Dee sighed with relief.

"So we have to be very careful when we stowaway on the ship."

They boarded the cannon and set themselves for launch. The cannon blasted them into the ship's deck. They broke through it and landed in the bottom cabins of the ship.

"Cannons are everyone's best friend." Bandana Dee said happily whiling ignoring the pain he received from landing.

"Poyo."

"It's not my friend and it will never be. I'm still not used to being fired from it." Elline moaned.

"Don't worry. You will in time."

"Okay now let's- uh oh, look behind you." She warned.

A dethskullk appeared from a door. Its skull is the same as the ship's sale picture. Underneath the skull had dark, purple aura that is continuously spewing out at a slow rate. It slowly levitated towards them.

"I-it really is scary… Kirby, help me!" Elline hid behind Kirby.

"Poyo?" he looked at her.

"I don't think Kirby or I can do anything against that thing." Bandana Dee said.

"Oh yeah... I forgot it wasn't a normal enemy..." Elline blushed nervously.

The Dethskullk was getting closer. The dark pupils flashed pink. The trio started backing up.

"We know what happens if it touches us." Bandana Dee warned.

"Yes, but what do we do… I don't wanna die like this." She screamed.

Unknown to the trio, their was a large hole with ocean water at the bottom. Kirby backed up too much and fell in it.

"Poyo!?" he yelled in confusion.

Elline and Bandana Dee exchanged glances and knew what to do next.

"But I don't want my bandana to be wet!" Bandana Dee moaned.

"And I don't like to be in water." Elline sighed.

"Is that why you didn't swim with us before?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Umm... no... that's... l-let's just follow Kirby."

The two jump in the water. The dethskullk stopped moving and looked around. It eventually levitated into the ship's deck.

"That was a close one… too close…"

"And I can't draw a rope back to the deck without the dethskullks ambushing us. _"_

Bandana Dee looked around the water. He noticed that a certain puffball wasn't with them. "Elline, Kirby hasn't surfaced yet."

They both looked down and saw the puffball waving at them from underwater.

"He must have found the exit." Bandana Dee said.

The pair dived in and followed him underwater despite being uncomfortable in water. They resurfaced on the other side and found out that they were still inside the ship, much to their disappointment. There were also two dethskullks patrolling the area.

"There's a door over there. The only problem is those pirates..." Bandana Dee said.

"Leave it to me!" Elline said.

They swam on the water's surface as close as they can to the door. The dethskullks looked around the water, as if they can sense a presence.

"I'll draw a rope that'll lead into the door and you guys know what to do next."

She transformed into her paintbrush form. The dethskullks suddenly looked directly at them with flashing pink eyes. But they made no other movements.

"I-I think they know we're here..." Bandana Dee whispered.

She quickly drew a rope through the door. Kirby and Bandana Dee climbed the rope quickly. Upon entering, they fell to the ground because the rope was cut short. Elline was staring at another dethskullk, frozen in fear.

This particular one has a gold skull color and is slightly larger than the other ones they saw. The dethskulk king wore a key around its "neck".

"Poyo." Kirby had an angry look on his face.

The pirate's eyes flashed green. Dethskullks emerged from the wooden holes of the ship. Elline transformed without warning and drew her rope around the pirates. Even though they were slow, the amount of them in the room made that fact almost meaningless.

They moved through the hallway as fast as they could. There was a large open door at the end of the room. They were almost at the door until it suddenly closed on them.

"New option! Follow me!" Elline said in her paintbrush form.

"Wait! Slow down!" Bandana Dee yelled.

More dethskullks appeared out of the large holes of the ship in attempt to touch them.

Elline's fast movements made it hard for Kirby and Bandana Dee to keep their balance on the rope. The quick maneuvers eventually caused Kirby to fall off.

"Poyooo!" he yelled in surprise. He landed on the ground and rolled uncontrollably into a large hole with ocean water at the bottom.

"Elline, Kirby fell off!"

She stopped her drawing and transformed back. "What! Where did he go?" Elline frantically searched around for him.

A dethskullk suddenly appeared out of the shadows. It was floating towards…"Look out!"Bandana Dee pushed Elline out of the way. They both fell into the area Kirby fell into.

All the dethskulks in the room stopped moving and looked around. Then they simultaneously turned to the king who was also confused.

Bandana Dee and Elline resurfaced without injury.

"Bandana Dee, you saved me." Elline smiled.

"Don't mention it. I'm just glad that you're okay." He replied.

Seconds later, Kirby resurfaced. He was holding something shiny in his hand.

"Guys… I'm sorry… I was too scared and I only thought of escaping..."

"Poyo." Kirby shook his head in disbelief. He knew it wasn't her fault.

"Is that a… invincibility candy?" Bandana Dee questioned after noticing the said item in his hand.

"Poyo!" he nodded.

"I've never heard of such a thing. What is it?" Elline asked.

"It's a special type of lollipop that grants Kirby invincibility once he eats it. And of course... it's one of his favorites."

"Aren't all foods his favorite?" Elline grinned.

They both laughed at the thought.

Kirby was about to eat the candy until Bandana Dee stopped him.

"Wait a minute. We both know that the candy doesn't last a long time, so how 'bout we use it once we get out of here." He suggested.

"Poyo…" Kirby sadly agreed. He really wanted to eat the candy.

Elline giggled. "Now we have a fighting chance."

She drew a rope back into the room. The dethskullks immediately noticed them and they headed in their direction with flashing pink eyes.

Kirby rolled forward and ate the candy. His whole body glowed in a bright white. All the dethskullks, including the king stopped in place and trembled in fear. Kirby rolled forward at double the speed he normally rolls at. He instantly vaporized a dethskulk the moment he came into contact with it. He continued this attack with the other pirates until dethskullk king remained.

The Dethskulk king levitated above Kirby's reach. It was the only one that is smart enough to avoid him.

Kirby signaled Elline for help. She drew a line into the air. Kirby rolled onto it and jumped towards the dethskullk king and destroyed it, right as the candy wore off. The key that was hanging around the "neck" fell onto the ground.

"Nice work Kirby, as always." Bandana Dee congratulated.

"Poyo!" He yelled with glee.

"I thought we would never get out of here. It feels like we've been inside this dark ship forever." Elline sighed.

"It's only been about 5 minutes." Bandana Dee giggled.

The trio went back to the locked door and opened it with the key. They walked into the light and appeared at the deck of the ship. The dark fog disappeared and the sun is now fully shining on the ship. To their surprise, a lone cannon is pointing towards an archipelago of isles. The water at the center of the isles was darker than the rest of the ocean water.

"We're gonna hop in are we?" Elline grumbled.

Bandana Dee and Kirby nodded.

Elline sighed. "I hope this is the last cannon that we have to jump into."

"I doubt it." Bandana Dee said cheerfully.

They hopped in the cannon and blasted themselves into the horizon.

 **I feel like this chapter was rushed. Because it was really difficult for me to write this chapter. I had to change so many things and I questioned if this or that should be in or not. Anyways, there's finally some backstory on Elline and Claycia. Of course, this probably never happened before the events of the game but this is a fanfiction so who would think it's canon?**


	7. Torpedo Dive

Chapter 7: Torpedo Dive

The trio was flying through the air at fast speeds. They were heading in the direction of one of a small isles in the archipelago. The three of them face-planted on the beach.

Bandana Dee stood up without a scratch. "Cannons are the best!"

"Cannons are the worst!" Elline yelled.

"Poyo, poyo." Kirby shook the sand off his face and looked around. He rolled away without their notice.

"Like I said Elline, you'll get used to them in time."

"I am starting to get used to it… but I still despise them."

 _"_ _One of these days she'll see the joy of being blasted into the oblivion."_

"Poyo!" Kirby yelled at the duo from up the beach.

Bandana Dee and Elline went over to him. They were surprised at the object he pointing at, another canvas stand.

"This will definitely help us. And I know just what to transform you guys into." Elline said.

"And what's that?" Bandana Dee asked.

"You'll see…" she said with a wink.

She transformed and drew a picture of a submarine then slapped it onto Kirby,

Except he wasn't the submarine that was portrayed on the canvas. Kirby blinked in surprise when he looked like Coo the owl. Bandana Dee sighed and facepalmed.

"Sorry! I wanted to see how Kirby looked like if he was an owl." Elline grinned.

She quickly slapped over him again and turned him into the correct transformation, the Kirby Submarine. He was mostly the same as before. Some of the differences was an increase in size and his legs were turned into a propeller. A noticeable feature is the small seat inside a small, round and durable glass window on his head.

"Next in line!"

"Are you gonna transform me this time instead of giving me an item?" Bandana Dee said with an annoyed tone.

"It's an actual transformation." she said with a suspicious smile.

Elline slapped the drawing onto Bandana Dee. Too his surprise, he was a submarine like Kirby. He didn't have a round window on his head and the propeller is his royal blue bandana.

"No! My bandana will be wet now!" he cried.

"Why didn't you put it away before I transformed you?"

"I wasn't expecting you to actually transform me." he shrugged.

She giggled at the thought. "So are you guys, are we ready to go? That rainbow bridge won't come to us. "

"Speaking of the bridge... how do you know it's in the deep?"

"Call it a sixth sense. I AM a rainbow being with the personality of the rainbow." she smiled.

The two submarines hopped on the beach and jumped in the dark water.

"Wait, how are all of us going to go underwater?" Bandana Dee asked.

"I'll be riding on Kirby Submarine."

"Poyo?"

Elline flew over to him and landed on the seat. The window automatically closed when she sat down. "It's so comfy in here."

The two submarines dived in the water. The ocean was vast but they followed a trail underwater. They descended through a small rocky area and entered a cave. They came across a rubble of boulders blocking their way.

"Kirby, you can now fire torpedoes." Elline said.

He fired three torpedoes at once and it destroyed the rubble, allowing them to continue. Sawgills were swimming in the area. Despite their intimidating appearance, they showed no hostility towards the submarines. The blippers of the deep were another story. They tried attacking them on sight and many came in hordes. The two submarines quickly defeated them and moved on. The underwater current was strong in certain areas. It allowed them to move to areas more quickly than before but the catch was that they couldn't turn back.

Large sea shells were resting on rocks. Crabbos were trying to open them using their sea-foamed bombs. Half of the bombs were caught in the current and it floated towards the trio as they swam by.

"Can't they do that at another time?" Bandana Dee wondered.

"Poyo."

They passed by the area without too much trouble and descended even more. In the next area, a green seaweed with pink testicles was staring at them. It then fired its torpedoes at them. The submarines dodged and countered with their own torpedoes. They fired a few more and they destroyed the deepsee. The number of the deepsees increased as they moved on. Eventually, a larger one came out of hiding.

It moved faster than the normal deepsee, making it difficult for the submarines to target it. It momentarily stopped in place and fired torpedoes at them. Kirby and Bandana Dee countered it with their own torpedoes. It used that moment of collision to move around the area again at fast speeds. They watched it roam around and waited for it to stop. They fired at it the moment it stopped and destroyed it after a number of blows.

"We should be almost there. Just a few more ways to go." Elline said.

They swam around some sawgills and descended to the bottom of the ocean floor. The trio saw a massive dark hole in the center of a hill, surrounded by red coral.

"This isn't right… There should be a rainbow bridge here." Elline said.

"We should take a closer look." Bandana Dee suggested.

Elline was hesitant on that idea but it didn't stop Kirby from moving closer.

As they got close, a giant blue squid emerged from the hole. The golden eye squid wore a dark blue pirate hat. It pulled out a pipe and blew sea-foam bubbles from it.

"Who do ye landlubbers think ye are, trespassin' into me lair?" it demanded.

"We weren't trespassing..." Elline said timidly. "We were…"

"That don't matter. I, the Claykken will send the three of ye, into the Claykken Cia's locker." he exclaimed.

"Claykken Cia's locker?" Bandana Dee questioned.

He grew spikes from one of his tentacles and stuck it down the hole. The tentacle appeared behind Kirby and it struck him.

"Kirby, are you okay? Elline asked.

"Poyo." He replied. Kirby fired torpedoes at the tentacle and damaged it.

"Ye'll pay for that, scallywag!" the Claykken yelled. The squid created another spiky tentacle and aimed at Bandana Dee. He dodged it and countered with his torpedoes.

The Claykken used both of its spiky tentacles and hid it down his hole. It appeared behind them and they got struck again.

"Owww…" Bandana Dee moaned.

"I'm not finished." The Claykken continued its assault in the same manner.

Kirby and Bandana Dee noticed the bubbles that'll appear out of the red coral every time the Claykken hides it's tentacles. Once the bubbling stops, a tentacle will emerge from it. They used the opporturnities to deal heavy damage to the Claykken's tentacles.

"Grrrr…" The Claykken moaned. It then sunk down the hole.

"Is it gone? " Bandana Dee said.

"Over here, ya lubbers!" it yelled from behind. The squid fired balls of ink from its underside. Some of the ink hit Kirby's face.

"Poyo!" He and collapsed onto the ocean ground.

"Kirby!" Elline yelled.

The Claykken began laughing. Bandana Dee got its attention by firing torpedoes at it. It started spinning quickly and shot itself at him. He dodged but the squid continued this attack for a while. Meanwhile, Elline was trying to find a way to help Kirby.

"Okay, you're going to have to do what I say."

Kirby nodded. He was confident in her guiding him but Elline wasn't confident in herself.

 _"_ _I don't know about this…but hopefully nothing bad happens…"_

"Umm, up." She commanded.

Kirby rose up but didn't stop. "Now stop and turn right." He turned left. "No, your right not-"

"Kirby! Watch out!" Bandana Dee yelled.

The Clayyken was coming at them. Kirby looked around rapidly. "Down! Down!" Elline yelled. they narrowly dodged the claykken's attack. "Now fire a torpedo."

"Poyo?" He fired one in different directions. One of them hit the red coral at the bottom and reduced it to rubble. The Claykken stopped and looked towards the ruined coral. It turned red in anger.

"How dare ye!" it yelled. "I'll tear ye apart, piece by piece."

The squid extended a spiky tentacle at them. "Go down! Go down!" he descended until he hit something hard. "Wait, we could use this thing."

The squid spun around and shot at them. "Move left!" Kirby moved right instead of left but the squid hit the large rock that Kirby himself hit. The collision made him dizzy. Its tentacles opened up and it revealed a red bump. "Fire straight ahead!" Not knowing what he was going to fire at, Kirby fired directly at the bump. Bandana Dee joined in the fray. The amount of blasts heavily injured the Claykken. It lost consciousness and fell back into hole. Moments later, the rainbow bridge shined from it and it extended above the surface and into the sky. The ink around Kirby's eyes disappeared as well.

"Poyo!" he said happily.

"Your eyes… they're back to normal!" She would squeeze him in delight but since they're underwater, she decided that she'll do it later.

"How could a rainbow bridge be underwater?" Bandana Dee asked.

"It works in mysterious ways I guess." she shrugged.

Kirby and Bandana Dee looked at each other in disbelief.

"A-anyways, shall we?" she asked.

The submarines traveled over the rainbow and reached the surface in an instant. Both of them returned to normal and Elline left "Kirby's interior". They traveled on the rainbow to world it'll guide them into. They are one step closer to saving Popstar and Elline and Claycia's friendship.

* * *

In a large palace somewhere, the Grab Hands are seen waiting for something to arrive.

"It's… been a while… since we last… done something…" said the left.

"Yess… but…. It'll change…" said the right.

"Hopefully… Claycia must… have it… finished… by now…"

A very large shadow appeared over them. The hands looked above and flew towards the shadow. The image of the shadow resembled an artist...

 **I tried so hard on creating character in the Claykken. I don't know how to write in a pirate language lol. Anyways, I have some update news about the fanfic and it'll be coming very soon. I'll post the update on my deviant account so look forward to that I guess.**


	8. Cottas Across the Skies

**It's been 3000 years... but I'm now back and better than ever! That "minor" hiatus I had due to homework and whatnot should have ended about 3 weeks ago but I got lazy… again. In addition, Planet Robobot locked me into my room. It was like I was stuck in a mech suit and I couldn't get out. Anyways, enough about me it's time to resume the story!**

Chapter 8: Cottas Across the Skies

The Grab Hands were in some sort of a small and dark room. There's no indication of how they got in or how they will get out. The only thing that's visible in the dark room is a clay microphone that's glowing in a purple aura.

The microphone flashed a few times and slightly rose in the air. Once it stopped in place, a voice spoke from it.

"It's time to move forward with the first step of our plans. First, we will use this vessel in the Palace to test its power." Claycia announced.

"On... the pink pest... correct...?"

"Yes, since they happen to stumble upon our testing site, they shall have the honor of going first." She snarled. "And once you're done with them, round up the… guests that I have yet to give my hospitality to."

"Shall we… take launch…?" the right asked.

"No, there are a few more preparations left for you two to finish. Also, find out the exact location of those pests once they arrive in this world."

"Right…" they said.

The microphone ceased levitating and it fell back into its pod.

"Wait... what preparations…" the right asked.

"We'll… figure it… out…" the left said.

* * *

The vast world of Blue Sky Palace is full decorated floating stars and many clouds that can be safely stepped on. Some of those clouds lead into many floating platforms and small towers. High in the sky, there is a massive horizontal cloudy layer that allows anything from below to pass through.

"This world looks so awesome." Bandana Dee gasped. "Kirby, are you seeing this?"

Kirby was gazing at the sky in sparkling eyes. He never imagined seeing such a beautiful open world.

Elline smiled. "Out of all the worlds, this is my favorite. You could see more rainbows here than any of the other worlds."

"No wonder." He chuckled. "Speaking of rainbows, how are we supposed to find the rainbow bridge here?"

"Maybe if we get to the top of the sky, we'll be able to pinpoint it."

"Top of the sky?"

Elline pointed upwards at the large cloud. "Once we get pass those clouds, we should be near the top."

"That'll make things a lot easier then. No need to search this whole world piece by piece then."

The trio leisurely strolled on the clouds, gazing at what the world has to offer. Each time they step on a small part of a cloud, it pops like a bubble and they're able to bounce from it like a trampoline, something that can be used to their advantage. Not too long later, they saw...

"Another cannon… Of course…" Elline moaned.

Bandana Dee giggled. They were blasted to a higher area of the sky and continued. The section of the sky had bubbly clouds that are laid out like stairs with sizable gaps between each section. In each gap, there are very strong updrafts being blown from the abyss.

"I can't draw you guys a path…" Elline said. "I'm too light, I'll be blown away. But I'm sure you two will be able to float in the air."

"You sure about that?"

"Sure I'm sure! And look, Kirby proved me right!"

Flying in the air wasn't new to him but flying as a rolling ball is. It was hard for him to maintain control but he'll eventually got the hang of it.

"If you don't mind, I'll just climb… onto your back, Bandana Dee. You're not gonna let the super strong winds blow me away will you?" Elline giggled.

"Why not hang onto Kirby instead? I thought you li-"

"He's rolls around like a ball so I can't keep a steady grip on him." she replied instantly before he could say anything else.

"Didn't you say you wanted to stay close to him at all times?" he teased.

Elline grew irritated. "No, that's not what-"

"Poyo!" Kirby called them from the other side.

"Hang on tight!" Bandana Dee said.

Bandana Dee jumped off and glided on the wind. Elline was able to hang onto the waddle dee's back. Once they reached Kirby, he immediately took off into the next jump. Eventually, gordos attached to balloons slowly rose from the abyss. Exactly how, when and where they got balloons and how they were tied to them is unknown. Regardless, the trio had no difficulty avoiding them and continued jumping on the clouds.

As they gradually ascended, the amount of clouds decreased and the winds grew stronger. Eventually, Elline was having difficulty holding onto Bandana Dee due to how strong the winds are becoming.

"Poyo!" Kirby was having trouble keeping himself balanced.

"Why did these winds suddenly become so strong!?" Bandana Dee yelled.

A sudden updraft blew Elline off the waddle dee's back and got swept away.

"Help me!" she yelled. The winds were too strong for her to maintain her flight.

Kirby and Bandana Dee were also rising with the raging winds but at a much slower rate. The new part of the sky they were in are void of any clouds to help them move around swiftly.

"Poyo!" Kirby yelled.

"I wish we were as light as her." Bandana Dee moaned.

"WAAAAAAHH!" Elline disappeared into the cloudy layer.

"Poyo!" Kirby called out. There was no answer.

"Kirby, she's not the least of our problems." Bandana Dee warned.

"Poyo?" he turned around and saw trakkers and bronto burts closing in on them. The duo were at a disadvantage but they weren't completely helpless.

* * *

Elline was rising uncontrollably through the thick cloud layer. Her vision was completely white until she passed through the layer and saw sunlight again. Oddly, the winds completely died down so she fell back into the cloud but didn't bounce back up. The surrounding area is wide and flat like a grassy plain.

Elline got up and shook her head "How far did I drift off? I hope the other two are okay..."

A few eyes popped out of the cloud and watched her closely. Once she turned in their direction, their eyes grew wide in surprise. Then more eyes appeared through the layer. Elline didn't notice them at all.

"This situation is almost like the scary ruins, but those pesky hands thankfully aren't around here. I could go and look for Kirby but we may end up more separated." She sighed.

Elline heard a shuffle noise from behind. She quickly turned around and saw nothing there.

"I'll just stay here… all alone… with no one to protect me… and…"

Something small and round jumped out of the cloudy layer behind her. Then a bunch more of them jumped out at once. She quickly turned back around expecting something bad. Instead she gasped at what she saw.

"Uhh… Who are you?" she asked slightly fearful.

They ignored her question and stood awestruck.

"No way..."

"It can't be..."

"Is that really you, Miss?"

* * *

The trakkars shot metal balls at Kirby and Bandana Dee but they easily avoided it. Kirby dashed into some of the trakkers in their way as they slowly ascended in the sky. Suddendly, a giant blue bronto burt came out of nowhere as they were fighting the smaller ones.

The giant went for a collision course straight to the duo, prompting them to get away. The bronto burt carelessly knock down it's "teammates" out of the way in determination to get them.

The pair was growing tired and the bronto burt was quickly catching up to them. Before it could ram into them, a cannon tied by balloons floated up towards the exhausted duo. Without hesitation, they jumped in and blasted themselves to the cloudy layer. The bronto burt only watched them go and did nothing else.

They zipped through multiple clouds and ended up at some sort of a floating platform further up the sky.

"Heheh… I told Elline cannons are the best!" Bandana Dee smirked.

"Poyo."

They walked along the platform until they reached another section of clouds. There was no updrafts so falling would be the last mistake they'll make. The duo carefully bounced on each bubbly cloud to the other side. Eventually, a ton of gordos tied to balloons were falling down slowly.

"Elline would be so helpful right now..."

Now they were forced to move faster as soarers sometimes fly in and pop the balloons for the heck of it. A few bzztbulbs were also tied to the balloons and they could temporary block their escape. After safely making it to the next platform, they could see a large palace in the distance. However, there is still no sign of Elline.

"Kirby, do you think she wandered off to look for us?" Bandana Dee wondered.

"Poyo." He shook his head and promptly looked down the cloudy sky. Below them, Kirby could make out some sort of gathering on a large and wide cloud. The duo jumped down to the nearest platform to get a closer look. It was there that they found their friend.

Elline was surrounded by cottas. Without hesitation, they jumped off the floating platform they were standing on without realizing how high it was.

"Poyooo!" Kirby called out.

Elline heard Kirby's voice and looked up to see them falling. She quickly drew them a rope to safety.

"I'm so happy you guys found me!" she smiled. "We can't seem to stay together all the time can we?"

"Elline! Are you alright?" Bandana Dee asked. "Did these cottas hurt you?"

Kirby faced the cotta crowd. To his surprise they were backing up slowly and fearfully. Cottas would normally fight him without much thought.

"Poyo?" he said in confusion.

"Yes and no." she replied. "Don't worry about these cottas. They're nice. Elline turned to face the crowd. "Hey, it's okay everyone. My friends are your friends now."

"I thought all cottas are the same." Bandana Dee questioned.

The cotta group aren't the usual tan color. One-half of the group are light green and the other half are light blue. The green variants have light blue eyes and faces and vice versa for the blue variants. The rest of their designs are the same as the tan variants.

For some reason, the cottas were murmuring with each other. Then they all stopped and faced the trio. A cotta walked forward from the crowd. This one is slightly shorter than the others and it's a cyan color. It has green eyes and with a light blue face. The cotta spoke after a small pause.

"Miss... Miss Elline? Who are they?" it asked while looking down nervously.

"I keep telling you guys not to call me that." she blushed.

"I'm... err... We're sorry but we can't help it." he said. "You and Master Claycia are the reason why we are here. How else are we supposed to express our gratitude?"

A lightbulb went off in her head. "You guys can help us! Do you know where the rainbow bridge is?" She asked.

The cyan cotta looked up. "The... bridge? It should be..."

"Hey Elline, are you going to introduce us to them?" Bandana Dee asked suddenly.

"Oh right." She said nervously. "Well, these cottas are some of the inhabitants of Seventopia. Since we created them, they call me 'Miss' and Claycia "Master" even though I don't like that title."

"Why not?" Bandana Dee asked.

While she was explaining the reason, Kirby rolled up to the cyan cotta and greeted him. The cyan cotta backed away slowly in fear.

"Poyo…" he said sadly.

"Hey… Kirby isn't here to hurt you." Elline smiled. "He's our friend."

"I'm… sorry…" he muttered. "After everything that's been going on…. I don't know who to trust. Especially that flying thing above you."

The three of them looked up and saw the giant blue bronto burt from earlier. The cottas screamed and bunched up together in fear. Now that they are not floating targets, Kirby and Bandana Dee stood ready to fight.

The bronto burt tried ramming into Kirby but he jumped out of the way and dashed into it, knocking it back. Bandana Dee then quickly followed up with a spear jab. The bronto burt yelped with pain and it flew off.

"Great job you guys." Elline clapped.

The cottas instantly all lost their fear of them and ran towards them in happiness.

"Our heroes!" They praised. The duo was shocked at the sudden pleasure they were given.

"That flying thing kept tormenting us!"

"You guys are so great!"

"I want an autograph!"

"Hey, you cut in front of me!"

"Move out of the way!"

Kirby and Bandana Dee could barely move in the adoration the cottas are giving them. Elline giggled at the unfolding scene. She felt glad that the eyes weren't on her for once.

"Miss Elline… how did you meet them?" the cyan cotta said.

"It's a long story… but I'm happy I met them." She replied.

"Also I'm curious… which one of them do you like the most?"

She blushed at the question. "W-why are you asking me this?"

"I don't know… it kinda seemed…."

"Poyo?" Kirby said.

Elline who was still red, turned to him slowly. "Y-yes Kirby?"

"Poyo." Kirby performed hand waves that resembled painting.

"Ohhh… you want to learn how to paint, right?" she asked.

He nodded. "No problemo then. But we'll need to find a canvas stand."

"Um… There is a canvas stand in this world somewhere. I just don't know where it is." The cotta said.

Elline and Kirby looked at each other briefly. "We'll find it later. But for now, can you tell us where the rainbow bridge is?"

"Oh… that's easy. The bridge is in the Blue Sky Palace. Just take that path over there and you'll be there in no time. Be careful though Miss, the dark storm clouds are causing more problems than ever before."

Elline noticed the ominous clouds circling the Palace. " _What has Claycia been doing there?"_

"It'll be a piece of cake!" Bandana Dee jumped in the conversation.

"Well… good luck to you Miss Elline, Kirby and... bandana guy." He said.

"It's Bandana Dee…" he replied.

"Wait!" another cotta yelled and ran towards them. "Miss Elline, there's something else we need help with."

"Okay… what do you need help with?" she asked.

"Lately, we've been getting a bunch of thunderstorms that threatens to blow all of us away." The cotta said.

"Th-thunderstorms?" Elline stuttered.

Yes, and we think it's coming from the Palace itself judging by the dark clouds surrounding it. Do you think you can help us? That giant flying thing was the least of our problems."

Kirby and Bandana Dee looked at each other and nodded. "Poyo!" Kirby said.

"I want to hear Miss Elline's response, Kirby."

"Poyo…" he agreed sadly.

"Uh… sure, we'll help you guys out." She replied quietly.

The cotta jumped with joy. "Thank you miss. Now are there any favors you request?"

"Favors?"

"Yes, we can't let you and Kirby go unrewarded-"

"Hey, I'm here too!" Bandana Dee yelled angrily.

The cotta ignored his remarks. "What is it that you need? We'll do anything!"

Elline quickly spoke up. "We don't need any-"

"Wait!" Bandana Dee interrupted. He pulled out a treasure chest, the same one Kirby found in a beach in Indigo Ocean. "Do any of you know how to open this? The lid is stuck."

 _"_ _I forgot about that chest."_ Elline thought.

The cottas became uneasy upon seeing the chest. They huddled in a group and whispered to each other for some time. Finally, they turned towards the trio still looking uneasy. The cyan cotta nervously walked forward.

"I… I can open it. I was the one who hid that chest…"

"You... you hid this?" Elline gasped.

"Yes... miss. You see, I was walking along the clouds one day and I suddenly saw something falling from the sky. My instincts told me to check out the chest because it may have something important."

"Instincts?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"The object inside the chest is so beautiful. I showed it to my friends and they were all amazed. We decided not to keep it here so we buried it in the ocean world for safekeeping. Soon we were chased out by Master Claycia's minions because we weren't allowed in that world."

"Poor thing…" Elline said quietly.

"We sealed the lid shut. But we'll try our best to open it for you." All the other cottas nodded in unison.

"That's okay." Elline reassured. "We want to help you. We'll clear out the thunderstorms."

The cottas quickly brightened up again like the conversation never happened.

"Kirby, Bandana Dee, let's go to the Blue Sky Palace!" Elline said with enthusiasm. The duo were surprise at her encouragement. Normally she would have a hint of fear whenever danger is involved.

The cottas revealed the cloudy path towards the palace. The trio waved to them as they went on the path. The cottas cheered for them as they were leaving. But things soon took a different route. A loud noise was heard from the palace and that noise shook all of them.

"Poyo..." Kirby said in a serious manner.

A large, light purple airship emerged from the palace. The ship's appearance is similar to a bell with a curved neck and head. The ship's head had two eyes, an artist's beret and one large cannon. The ship also had many small cannons around its body. Shock waves powered the whole vessel

The cottas immediately dived back into the cloud with no trace of them remaining. The now alone trio watched the airship turn in their direction and head straight for them. Elline eventually spoke after the initial silence.

"Ch-change of plans, we need to run…" Elline warned.

 **This chapter was another hard one for me to write. Too many things to move around, too much thinking, too much plotting, you get the idea. Anyways, we now have new characters in the form of cottas. The major new character is the cyan cotta. That cyan cotta will be very important in the duration of the story. Don't you dare think of him as another ol' cotta that Kirby trounces. Oh wait, what's his name again? I don't think it was mentioned… yet…**


	9. Bastron, The Mighty Battleship

**One reviewer asked me a question and since he/she disable replies, I'll just answer it here.**

 **Yumestarforever: "Is it okay if I translate your fanfiction and post it in German?"**

 **Unfortunately no, you may not. When the story progressives a bit more, I MAY change my mind. You are however, welcome to translate it just please don't post it.**

Chapter 9: Bastron, The Mighty Battleship

Bastron is currently pursuing the trio. At the rate its going, it will catch up to them very soon.

"B-B-Bastron? Why is it here? It wasn't finished the last time I saw it! What has Claycia done to it!?" Elline wondered.

"Look at the size of those cannons! Why would you and Claycia make a battleship!?" Bandana Dee said.

"It wasn't supposed to be a battleship! It's supposed to be the Seventopia cruise ship!"

"Either way, how are we supposed to take on that thing?!"

"Well, our only hope is to transform Kirby. But we need to find the canvas stand..."

"I hope we find it…" Bandana Dee muttered. "If anything, it would be located in another unusual place."

"Poyo!" Kirby pointed at a sky tower nearby. The tannish tower looked very old and it could fall apart at any moment. It strangely has some light blue star decorations around it.

"We can't hide there. Bastron will blow it to bits!" Elline said.

"It's not like we have a choice... and the place is different than anything we've seen in this world."

The trio headed straight for the tower. Bastron was about to pass over the large cloudy plain.

The cyan cotta peeked out from the cloudy curtain and noticed that he was directly under the vessel. Despite his fears, the cotta was awestruck by the large size. He then looked towards the old tower and caught a glimpse of the trio entering it.

"Good luck… you guys." He said before diving again.

Upon entering, they were greeted with dust. Some parts of the ceiling crumbled away and revealed the sky.

 _"On a second thought, Now_ _I'm not so sure about this place…"_ Bandana Dee thought.

"We left those poor cottas behind!" Elline said in realization.

"Poyo!?" Kirby turned around and rolled straight into the exit. Elline held him back just before he went outside.

"We can't get to them now. We just have to hope that they are alright." Elline said sadly.

"They'll be fine, Kirby. They're probably hiding in that large cloud." Bandana Dee said.

"Poyo…" Kirby said in defeat and turned away from the door.

Bandana Dee investigated the skies. Bastron was nowhere to be seen. Was it waiting for an ambush?

"I think we should look for that stand right now."

"It'll likely be here since I can't think of a better place for it to be hidden. And… I know just what to transform Kirby into." She smiled.

"Is it another animal?" Bandana Dee's sweat dropped.

Elline giggled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

They walked through the dimly lit hallway and climbed the stairs. The first thing they saw in the the open was Bastron's cannons pointing directly at them.

The trio was wide-eyed. Then before anything else, Elline zipped off at a neckbreaking speed.

"Don't leave us behind, you!" Bandana Dee yelled while following her.

Bastron fired barrages of bombs at them. The trio were able to dodge the explosions it caused and continued climbing up the tower. Suddenly, Elline stopped in her tracks and looked around. Once the grounded pair caught up, they realized why she's stopped.

There was a very large open gap. At the other side, there was an door that leads to the top. Lucky for them, Bastron temporary lost its target because the trio was covered by the walls of the structure.

"We have no choice…" she sighed sadly.

Elline quickly drew a rope as fast the gap. Bastron locked onto them again and fired more bombs. It was difficult for all of them to dodge and each of them nearly lost their balances more than once. They did however safely make it to the other side and went through the door.

"Ugh... how did… we miss...!? We should've... had them...!" the left hand yelled.

"You have... bad… aim..." said the right.

"Shut… it…"

The vessel circled around the tower. Meanwhile, the gang was taking a breather from the recent bombardment.

"Bastron stopped… firing? Thank goodness…" Elline said.

"It's probably waiting for us to come out." Bandana Dee said.

"I just hope the stand is in this room."

"Probably not." Bandana Dee looked around.

Giant armored cottas patrolled the area. Their huge silver armor that makes them walk very slow.

"They're no problem. I can draw a rope over them." Elline said confidently.

"Poyo."

They continued their adventure in the corridor. The armored cottas noticed the trio when they walked by them but they didn't do anything. At the end of the corridor, they saw a group of smaller armored cottas standing around in the open sunlight. Bastron was nowhere to be seen.

The trio walked through the area cautiously. The armored cottas also watched them go by.

Then Bastron appeared out of nowhere and pointed its cannons at them. The gang was ready for that ambush so they jumped out of the way. The vessel fired another bomb barrage, instantly destroying the previously invulnerable armored cottas.

"Almost…" said the right.

"If only…?" the left said.

"I have... an idea…" the right hand said. The left hand turned towards him in interest.

"Poyo…" Kirby sighed with relief.

"Does that ship ever give up?" Bandana Dee sighed.

They continued onward even more vigilant than before. At the end of the hallway, there was a circular staircase with sunlight shining from the top.

"I feel like if we go up there, we'll be blasted to smithereens." Elline said.

"And if we stay down here, I bet we'll be blasted to smithereens." Bandana Dee said.

Suddenly, the whole the tower shook. The trio could hear explosions and debris crashing onto something.

"Right on cue too."

Elline sighed. "We've been chased like this ever since we left Dreamland. I want it all to end already."

Another loud explosion was heard. It caused some stone to fall from the ceiling.

"We better get going!" Bandana Dee said firmly.

They nodded and climbed the staircase. They could feel the whole structure shake wildly and small pieces of stone continued to fall from the walls.

The top of the tower was just another sea of clouds. The only difference is that there is another structure that's similar to the old tower not too far away.

While walking around, they noticed that it was strangely silent and Bastron was nowhere to be seen.

That silence didn't last for long. The massive vessel appeared from below the cloud barrier and pointed its single large cannon at them.

"That cannon looks super scary." Elline nervously stated.

Bastron fired a single large bomb from its main cannon. The trio jumped onto a nearby cloud platform and narrowly avoided it. The attack completely evaporated the cloudy fabric they were previously on.

Elline drew rainbow rope across the skies. Bastron fired a single bomb at a time, none of them hitting it's mark. When they appeared at the entrance of building, they saw that it was blocked off by a large metal door.

"It's like all odds are against us!" Bandana Dee said.

Bastron attacked yet again. The trio dodged it again and the bomb destroyed the metal door, allowing them to enter.

"I… stand corrected." He said convincingly before entering.

"You… fool…! You… overheated… the cannon…!" the left hand yelled.

"Well… it was… fun…"

"Doesn't... matter... now. They... trapped themselves..."

The room they were in was very unusual. The floor was a single cloud that felt like a marble floor, the walls retained the outside look. The only difference are the stone stars decorated over it. The object in the center was none other than the canvas stand.

"It took a while to find this thing. Why would it be all the way out here?" Bandana Dee wondered.

"Beats me." Elline shrugged.

Elline transformed and drew a rocket on the portrait. She then transferred it onto to Kirby.

"Are you sure he's a rocket ship?" Bandana Dee asked.

Kirby's pink color was changed to purple. His head became a bird's head and his lips turned into a yellow beak. His arms were changed into wings and his belly turned white. He now resembled Coo the owl.

"Wow, you look so…" Elline giggled. "This will be the last time I'll do that."

Bandana Dee's sweat dropped. Elline redrew Kirby into the Kirby Rocket. He grew 3 times his normal size. His arms disappeared and his legs were replaced by 3 red fins. Most of the body was turned into a white tube except for the small glass window on his stomach. The only body part that remained the same was his face but it was relocated to where the rocket nose would be.

"Perfect! And I added two seats inside him as well."

The glass window on Kirby's stomach opened up, revealing a cockpit. The two seats were entirely pink. Elline flew into the front seat, Bandana Dee climbed onto the back seat. The window closed when they both entered and Kirby Rocket achieved lifted off. He flew right through the door they came through and in Bastron's direction.

Bastron aimed its smaller cannons at him and fired missiles. Kirby easily dodged them and he entered the back side of the battleship.

"That pest… got inside...?!" the right hand yelled.

"Don't worry…" the left reassured. "He won't… stand a chance… against… Bastron's might. And… we have… cameras…"

A display appeared on the windshield. Kirby was flying around the interior.

"Why don't… we… have this… at the… fortress?" the right hand asked curiously.

"Uh… well…"

"Kirby, watch out for traps that could hurt you." Elline warned.

Kirby nodded to this as he moved around Bastron's interior carefully and swiftly. The interior consisted of moving bolts and gears. Heading downwards, he ran into security shotzos. He quickly evaded them and he flew by regular cottas who were cleaning the area like janitors.

After navigating through the moving gears, Kirby arrived at a wall of metal blocks impeding their only way forward.

"Poyo…" Kirby glowed in a light blue aura and moved side to side rhythmically.

"This seems familiar…" Bandana Dee said.

Kirby took off at twice his regular speed. He shot through the metal blocks like a drill. He slowed down once he got through and the aura faded away.

"Kirby is so… amazing…" Elline collapsed from the sudden speed boost.

There were two flashing blue lights on the wall. Kirby remembered seeing something similar from the ruins. When he approached the lights, it darkened, causing a door to open. The next room had three lights separated by lasers. With precise navigation, he activated the next door and went through.

The door immediately closed behind them upon entering. The next room they were in was smaller than the other rooms they've seen. In the middle, there was a large red switch. Above the switch, there is a sign that says…

"Press… here? No way! Who would press such a bossy switch!?" Elline exclaimed.

"There's more to that. It says, _Your dreams will come true once you press it…_ "

"That's sounds even bossier!" she said. "Besides, my dream already came true… well, almost…"

"Mine hasn't come true… _and it'll probably never will…"_ Bandana Dee looked down.

"Poyo…" Kirby drooled. He was daydreaming of an endless supply of food showering upon him. Convinced by his imagination, he slowly approached the switch. Elline wasn't paying attention but Bandana Dee was.

"I think Kirby will be the first to press the 'bossy' switch." Bandana Dee warned.

Before Elline could speak, Kirby landed on the button. This triggered the whole area to flash red with warning sirens. The sign changed into a picture of a bomb and a map. A 2 minute timer appeared on the walls of the room.

"Noooo….!" the hands' shrieked louder than the sirens.

"What… do we… do…!?" the right panicked. "Claycia… will…"

"I… know…" the left reassured. "We… will do… other things… but… let's get out…"

The hands fled the ship through the large nozzle in the front and flew away as fast as possible.

"How did…"

"We… lost them… on camera…"

"So… we lost… them… again…!?" the right moaned.

"This wasn't… according to… plan…" the left said. "But… we'll improvise…"

"Improvise…?"

"Yes… such as… finding the fool… who made… that switch…!"

"Yes... I agree...?"

"It sounded... bossy... to me... as well..."

A panicking Elline jumped out of the cockpit. She closed in on Kirby's face. "Kirby, why would you press that!?"

"Poyo…" Kirby sounded slightly disappointed with himself.

"Guys, a map!" Bandana Dee pointed from his seat. Elline flew over to it and gave it a glance. The timer read 1:45.

"Alright, I got it!" Elline flew back to Kirby. "I memorized the map. There is a door blocking our way out but if we activate the 3 switches in the area ahead, it will open."

Kirby got serious and nodded. Elline reentered the cockpit.

"I'll direct you. You do what you always do." She smiled. _"Such as not easily being told what to do..."_

The timer read 1:10. Kirby drove forward and stumbled across a giant door.

"That's the door I was talking about. We can't go there until we activate the switches." Elline reminded him.

Kirby turned left and ended up in a large room that was full of obstacles. He activated the first switch that was in front of him which is the same flashing blue light from before. He then flew around the area while avoiding the lasers and shotzos. He found the second one hidden at the top right corner of the room. There were only 45 seconds left.

Kirby entered a maze-like corridor. He found and activated the final switch at the end of it, opening a nearby door and the larger one. With 30 seconds left, he glowed in a blue aura and took off at twice the speed towards the large door.

In the corridor, he saw light at the end of it. As he approached the exit he could hear an explosion building up from inside Bastron. With 10 seconds left, he flew out of the ship and back into the building where the canvas stand was. Bandana Dee and Elline fell out of the seat and Kirby returned to normal looking exhausted.

Bastron exploded almost immediately. The debris were scattered all around. The only part of the vessel that looked undamaged was Bastron's head which fell into the blue sky.

The cottas were at first shaken by the sudden event but they cheered soon after. Inside the Palace itself, a dark figure emerged from the floor and the dark clouds around the palace slowly expanded.

The trio got up and witnessed the remains of Bastron falling in the sky.

"That was a roaring success!" Elline yelled.

"Poyo!" Kirby tiredly agreed. He was then grabbed and squeezed by Elline out of relief, happiness and anger.

"Don't! Ever! Do! Something! Like! That! Again!" She yelled without any tone of anger in her voice.

Bandana Dee giggled. _"It's only a matter of time…"_

"I think… your time… is up…!" yelled a mysterious distorted voice.

The right hand appeared from the shadows right behind Kirby and Elline.

"A Grab Hand!?" Elline shrieked.

"Hmmhmmhmm... surprised...?" the left hand said while appearing above them. He flicked Elline off of Kirby and grabbed the puff. Bandana Dee caught Elline in midair before she hit the wall.

"Elline, are you alright?" Bandana Dee asked.

"I'm okay, thanks."

"You may... have destroyed... Bastron... but... we have this pest...!" the left said.

"Poyo..." Kirby moaned. He was too tired to even struggle.

Bandana Dee drew his spear and charged in. He was soon grabbed by the right hand and thrown towards the wall.

"Oww…" he moaned.

"Say goodbye... forever...!" the left shrieked.

"Kirby... no..." Elline cried.

The Grabs hands then levitated towards the exit while laughing maliciously. However, the exit already had something entering from it...

A cotta head-butted both of the hands from behind. This cotta was the same cyan cotta from before.

"Oww..." they moaned simutanouesly. Kirby slipped out of their grasp and fell on the ground.

"It's... one of those… cottas…!" the left shrieked.

"Do… do… not hurt Miss Elline or the others." it said with a shaky voice.

"You... lousy... little..." The hands clenched their bodies and approached the cotta. He cowered in fear.

Before they could smash the cotta, Bandana Dee and Kirby attacked them from behind, forcing them retreat again.

"We'll… be… back…!" they yelled while flying off in the distance.

"You saved Kirby!" Elline said with delight. "You're so brave!"

The nervous cotta looked down. "It… it was nothing, miss…"

Bandana Dee patted him on the back. "Come on. Don't be like that. You did great."

"Poyo!" Kirby agreed.

The cyan cotta looked happy for a moment. "Hehehe, thanks… you guys…"

"Wait, so why are you here?" Elline asked.

"Oh… I remembered where the canvas stand was so I raced here to grab it for you guys. I thought you wouldn't be able to find it."

The trio looked at each in surprise and slight disbelief.

"Follow me, I know a shortcut back." It said.

"Right behind you." Bandana Dee said. "By the way, what is your name?"

The cotta froze for a second. He just realized he never introduced himself properly.

"umm… Cyano…"

 **It's not like I could make a creative name in an instinct. I thought about Cyano as a character for some time, I just never thought of a decent name... Also, I'm starting school soon which may suck but it motivates me to work harder on this story for some odd reason.**


	10. Stars and Storms

**go-nela: Thank you. Reviews like that gives me the motivation to keep writing. The reason why Kirby doesn't speak English is because I want him to stay true to his appearances in the main games. Granted, I don't mind seeing him speak in the other stories I've read (as long as it's not overdone). It doesn't mean that I may throw in a few real words for him to say every now and then…**

 **I might as well mention that I began work on chapter 1 in early August 2015. So this fanfiction has been in the works for a year. Enough of my rambling, just read this chapter if you will :)**

Chapter 10: Stars and Storms

Cyano led the trio back to the sky cottas who rejoiced at their success. They invited them inside their home cloud as a way of saying thanks. Surprisingly, it was similar to a normal house. The cloudy walls, ceilings, and doors made it look different. The cottas were still trying to unseal the treasure chest so everyone did their own thing for the rest of the day. The next day, they called on the sleeping trio and told them that they should hurry to the entrance.

"Hey guys, what's so funny!?" Elline asked in an angered manner.

Cyano and a few other cottas were walking alongside the trio in the hallway. Bandana Dee and the cottas were snickering suspiciously, making her uncomfortable.

"Oh, it's nothing at all, Miss." One cotta quickly pointed out

"No need to worry."

"But there is a need to worry. It's making me feel… nervous." She said.

"There's nothing to be nervous about, Elline." Bandana Dee jumped in. "I was just telling them… some things."

"And what are those things?" she eyed him suspiciously.

"Uh, well I was telling them about you're amazing artistic skills and… how nice you look throughout our adventure."

Kirby turned to him in interest but didn't say a word.

Despite her clear blush, Elline ignored his compliments. "You guys are hiding something."

"We're now at the entrance, Miss Elline." Cyano said obliviously.

Bandana Dee sighed in relief. Elline glanced at him before turning to Cyano.

One cotta whispered in the waddle dee's ear. "At least you didn't blow our cover, but now she's got her eye on you."

Bandana Dee giggled. "Not for long. I've teased her a few times before and she got over it quickly." His eyes suddenly became wide. "Then again, something odd always happens immediately after which made her... forget..."

They all climbed the cloudy staircase to the top. The cottas were lined up on the side as they awaited the trio's appearance. The treasure chest was laid out in the open.

"It's finally time to see what's in this thing." Bandana Dee said.

"I think Kirby should open it." Elline suggested. "I mean, he's the one who found it back in Indigo Ocean."

"Poyo!" he agreed happily. He rolled up to the chest and swiftly opened the lid. A rainbow light emitted from the inside. Kirby, Bandana Dee and Elline peered inside and couldn't believe their eyes on what they saw.

It was a star about half the size of Kirby. It's composed of the colors, green and blue with green in the center portion of the star and blue on the five arms. It was the opposite on the other side, with blue in the center and green on the arms. The light dimmed away when Kirby held it in his hands.

"S-staar…!?" Kirby pronounced as best as he could.

"What is this thing!?" Bandana Dee said in shock.

"This seems to be…" Elline placed her hand on the object. She gasped and retracted it immediately.

"You see, that star is so beautiful. We just couldn't leave it out there in the open." Cyano said.

"We believe that it is just one of many." One cotta pointed out.

"And the other shards are on the planets ahead."

"You guys should find them before Claycia does."

"Yes, we should." Elline said abruptly. "We have to find the other stars before it's too late!"

Everyone glanced at Elline in surprise including Kirby and Bandana Dee.

"S-sorry, I… well, it's just that…" she mumbled.

The cottas were sad at the fact that she's unhappy.

"This star… is a fragment of Popstar's color…" she finished.

The duo became really confused. Kirby and Bandana Dee then looked at each other expecting an answer from the other. All it did was lead to more confusion.

Bandana Dee turned back to the fairy. "Elline, how do you know this?" he said in a serious manner.

"It's one of my abilities. I can detect any type of color and where it comes from. This is no doubt the color stolen for your planet. And we have to retrieve all the pieces in order to restore it."

Kirby and Bandana Dee glanced at each other again still in shock. What would happen if they couldn't get the pieces back?

 _"_ _Claycia, what are you doing…?"_ she thought.

It was complete silence for a while. No one moved a muscle or said a thing. All eyes were gazed at either each other or the cyan star until...

"Miss Elline…" the cotta crowd said simultaneously.

She turned around and faced the crowd, not expecting what they will say next.

"Please find those shards…"

"We want Master Claycia back…"

Elline was unsure of how to reply back to them.

"Poyo!" Kirby gave them the answer.

"We'll find the remaining star shards, save Claycia and restore our planet." Bandana Dee said.

"Uh, yes… we will." Elline jumped in. "We have to go to the next world as soon as possible."

"Yeah! To the Blue Sky Palace! The ACTUAL Blue Sky palace." Bandana Dee yelled

The cottas' eyes were filled with adoration. Cyano walked out from the crowd. "Be careful you guys. If you go now, you'll reach there more thun-"

A loud thunder was heard. The bright sunlight was partially blocked by the gray skies. Darker storm clouds were spreading from the Blue Sky Palace.

"M-m-more thunder!"

"Everyone hide before it gets worse!"

Eventually all the cottas disappeared in the cloud. Only Cyano remained with the group despite his clear shivering.

"Miss Elline, Kirby and bandana guy…" he said.

"It's Bandana Dee!" the waddle dee quickly corrected.

"I hope… we'll see each other again soon…" he mumbled.

"Okay, take care, Cyano. And thanks for your help." Elline smiled.

He giggled slightly before he started diving beneath the cloudy layer.

"Poyoooo!" Kirby waved at him until he disappeared completely.

The three of them were alone once again. And this gave Elline the chance to shiver to the ground in fear.

"D-did I mention that thunderstorms scare me a lot?" she staggered. "The clouds block out the beautiful sunlight and it fill the skies with too much noise.

Both of them shook their heads. Elline continued talking. "I don't know if I can come with you guys. I just…"

Kirby interrupted her by pulling her into a hug. The action caught her completely by surprise. She instantly calmed down and returned it. Bandana Dee joined in as well.

"Thanks, you guys. Let's always stay together.."

"Poyo!" he said happily.

"Okay!" Bandana Dee smiled.

The pathway to the palace was the least dangerous route they've been on throughout the world. The updrafts were strong but not as strong as the winds in the lower altitude. Kirby and Bandana Dee easily jumped from cloud to cloud without the rainbow rope. Elline was thankful for not helping because she needed to think.

Once they would cross the rainbow bridge, they'll have 3 more worlds to traverse. She wants to help Claycia and find out what's wrong with her. But seeing the star fragment got her scared on Claycia's ambitions which led her to many questions. Such as why did she split it apart Popstar's color and sent it to a world? What will she do with the pieces if she currently has the rest of them? What will happen if they can't retrieve the remaining color? Such questions plagued her mind.

As she thought about all this, memories of the past filled her mind as they made their way to the Blue Sky Palace…

* * *

Seventopia is currently made up of 4 planets in orbit. Elline and Claycia are gazing over those worlds in the starry space.

"So, what world will we make next?" Elline asked.

"Next is the woodlands. It is for those who love the thrill and insanity of the jungle."

"Oh… but what color should we use? We can't use green again."

"We'll use orange instead. I guess you could say that the sunset will give that color its name." Claycia smiled.

Elline looked at her in a confused manner. She figured that she will find out what she means she sees it. The two gazed at the stars for some time. Neither of them spoke for a bit until...

"The stars are so pretty…" Elline said in awe.

"Hmm…. stars…"

"Claycia? Is there something wrong?" Elline asked.

"No, no, I'm just thinking about one star that is inhabited by many life forms."

"A planet-like star?"

"Yes… Planet Popstar… it's said to be special in some way. And whatever makes it so special attracts dangers from all over Gamble Galaxy and beyond."

"Danger? I feel really bad everyone living there."

"But they have nothing to worry about. The planet has a hero living on the planet."

" _A hero…"_ Elline thought.

"I don't recall his name." Claycia admitted. "But he is described as someone who is brave and strong with a happy-go-lucky personality. Don't take him too lightly or he will chew you up and spit you out." She chuckled.

"I would love to meet him! Where is Popstar located? We can go there now!" Elline said excitedly.

"Patience, my fairy friend." Claycia said. "Remember, we have a job to do and it is for a good cause."

Elline looked down sadly. "Oh right. I forgot."

Claycia laughed. "Perhaps when we are finished, we will go visit Popstar and find out who the hero is."

Elline quickly brightened up again.

"Now it's time to sculpt the woodlands. I hope you're ready, Elline."

"You know I am!" She transformed into her paintbrush form. Claycia grabbed the handle. With her other hand, she created a large clay ball and shot it towards a spot in space.

"Unite sumus novam stellam natus." They glowed in vibrant colors and flew straight into the clay that is rapidly growing in size.

* * *

The Blue Sky Palace can be considered the largest and most decorative structure in the entire world. Like the old tower, it is primarily tan in color and has many star-like decorations wrapped around it. The blue roof is full of red propellers. From here, the entirety of the world can be seen.

The front door opened on its own. The interior is just a cloudy courtyard with no doors on any of the walls.

"There's nothing here. You would think that whatever is causing the storms would be waiting for us here." Bandana Dee said.

Kirby heard a ruffling noise behind him. He turned around and found that there was nothing there. He investigated the area but found nothing. The puff had a strange feeling that something was watching them.

"Kirby, what do you see?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"Poyo…" He looked around cautiously. He thought something would appear but what?

Elline crossed her arms. "Well, this is frustrating. We're looking for something that we don't even know is here."

Bandana Dee turned to her to reply. But instead, he just stared at her in shock. Kirby did the same as well.

"W-what is it, you two? I don't like being stared at…"

"T-turn around…" Bandana Dee warned.

The fact how he staggered his warning made Elline really scared. She slowly turned around, expecting something wicked to attack.

Her imagination got the better of her but she was still freaked out. A large single blue eye was staring at the trio.

"Uh…" she fearfully flew behind Kirby who was ready to fight.

The pupil turned red for a moment. Parts of many clouds flew out of the ground and formed a small tornado around the eye. When it ceased, the eye was in the center of a singular cloud with 8 golden spikes on the edges of the single cloud.

"Kracko…" Bandana Dee whispered.

"He looks… gross…" Elline said.

Kracko watched them closely. Both sides were anticipating a move from the other.

"What is it doing?" Elline questioned.

Kracko broke the stalemate by firing a lightning bolt at Kirby, knocking him back.

"Kirby!" Elline tried to fly to his side but she was blocked off by rising clouds created by Kracko. The clouds formed a cage around Bandana Dee and Elline.

"He trapped us in a cage made of clouds." Bandana Dee said. "My spear can't pierce it."

Kracko looked away from them and towards Kirby who was shaking off the pain.

"It's... not gonna get us? I wonder why?" she said.

"Maybe…" A light bulb went off in the waddle dee's head. "He wants to end his grudge against Kirby."

"Wait, that monster fought Kirby before?"

"Yeah, countless times on Popstar. Kirby was always victorious but Kracko would never give up."

Kirby saw that his friends were trapped. He tried to roll towards them and free them but Kracko flew in front of him and blocked him off.

"Kirby, you're gonna have to fight Kracko without us." Bandana Dee yelled.

He shook his head in disagreement. "Poyo..."

"Kirby, that monster won't let you free us. You're gonna have to fight it without our help, okay?" Elline said.

He nodded sadly and presumed a fighting stance. Kracko watched him closely.

Kirby commenced a rolling dash. Kracko dodged and fired an energy ball at him. The puff was ready for it and he dodged the attack.

The cloudy monster extended 2 twirling star beams and tried hitting him with them. Kirby dodged the attack and saw the opening. He simply dashed into his eye, hurting the monster.

"Nice one Kirby!" Elline cheered.

Kracko shook off the pain and hovered above Kirby. The monster then unleashed a ferocious rainstorm upon him. The water pelted him until he was buried into the cloudy ground.

Bandana Dee and Elline gasped in fear. Thankfully, he rose from the ground perfectly unharmed.

Kracko didn't stop the pressure. He continued firing more energy beams while flying around erratically. Kirby was able to dodge all of its attacks.

Eventually, Kracko formed a small tornado by spinning around in a circle. He fired it at the hero at the cost of temporary losing his cloudy body. Instead of running away, Kirby jumped into the tornado. He was flung around at a fast speed then he rocketed himself towards the vulnerable eye, burying himself and Kracko beneath the cloudy ground.

"I never thought he would do something like that that." Bandana Dee said.

"He could have injured himself though." Elline said worriedly

Kirby appeared above surface moments later. He was slightly electrocuted but he stood up strong and turned towards the others.

As he made his way over to his captive friends, Kracko rose again from the ground with his cloudy body again. The eye's pupil was a dark shade of red.

Kracko backed away a good distance and extended a yellow drill on one side. He swung the drill repeatedly in attempt to cut the hero.

Kirby narrowly avoided each slash. The monster extended another yellow drill on its other side. He flew to one side and charged at Kirby. He ducked beneath the attack. Then it spun around with its drills causing Kirby to retreat to a corner. Kracko pointed one drill at Kirby's face and charged at him.

Kirby jumped straight up with his feet which were previously curled. Kracko's drill became stuck on the wall. The monster tried pulling it out but to no use. Seeing the opportunity, Kirby tried to ram into him one more time from above to finish him off. However, Kracko wasn't defenseless. It fired an energy ball at point blank range, injuring the hero significantly. He fell onto the ground face down.

"Kirby!" the captive duo yelled.

Kracko used the last of its energy to use its body as a tornado that's double the size of the previous one in order to lift Kirby into the air. Once in the air, Kracko created one last energy ball from its eye and fired. Kirby opened his eyes in the nick of time to see the attack coming for him. With his instincts, he gobbled the attack and spat it back at the eye, stunning him.

The tornado ceased and both Kirby and Kracko were falling in the sky. Kracko landed on the ground first but he couldn't move due to exhaustion. Kirby finished him off by diving straight at the singular eye.

The monster growled in agony. The eye shed a tear as it looked around it all directions. It then exploded with no trace of it remaining. The skies became clear and the winds stopped. The cage around Elline and Bandana Dee disappeared and a rainbow extended from beneath the ground and into the sky.

"Is it… gone…?" Elline wondered

"It seems like it. But we can't worry about him now. Kirby needs our help."

Kirby collapsed onto the ground exhausted, injured and hungry. That battle took a toll on him. The duo ran over to him and found that he was already fast asleep.

"Thankfully, the cottas gave us a lot of fruit." Elline pulled out grapes and pears from hammerspace then shoved it into Kirby's mouth.

He instantly woke up. He ran around the palace, full of energy.

"How many times have you amazed me, Kirby? I didn't know you could eat other things and spit them back out as an attack." She clasped her hands in excitement.

 _"_ _That reminds me, why doesn't he use his other abilities?"_ Bandana Dee thought.

Kirby's eyes grew wide in surprise. He realized that he used his star spit attack in order to win against Kracko. His mind went back to the apple on Dreamland and grew disappointed. He swore that he would roll around like a ball until he devours the apple while it's bright red and juicy.

"So that's 4 worlds completed. What's our the next step?" Bandana Dee asked.

"Our next step is Orange Woodlands, it's a jungle." She said.

"Cool! I love jungles. It's so thrilling and full of insanity." He beamed. "And what's the world after that?"

"After that is Red Volcano, an inactive volcano."

"Wait, you and Claycia made… a volcano? Who would live there?"

"Don't ask me. Claycia was the one who decided to sculpt it."

"Either way, is there anything else?" Bandana Dee asked.

Elline hesitated. "Well, there's… _that evil fortress…"_ she looked down sadly.

"Poyo?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"No." She shook her head. "Everything is fine. Let's just go, you guys. We're almost there."

"Poyo!" Kirby nodded confidently and stepped onto the rainbow.

"I wonder what's in store for us next…" the waddle dee said as he followed Kirby.

As they made their way over the rainbow, Elline sadly looked to the skies in the direction of Purple Fortress which is easier to see in this world compared to Green Valley. "Claycia… what are you up too…"

* * *

"I am very disappointed in you two." Claycia sighed.

"Claycia..." said the right.

"We can... catch that... pest..." said the left. "We... just…"

The artist held up her hand, forcing them quiet. "Nevertheless, I have good news." Claycia reached into her purple robe and pulled out a yellow star. "This colorful energy continues to intrigue me. Once I've fully harnessed its potential, we will need to retrieve the others."

"Ah... right..." both hands said.

"But... the sooner we capture the pest, the better. Now, go!" she snarled.

"Yes... Claycia..." they moaned before they departed. She watched her henchmen fly in the direction of Orange Woodlands.

"Those pests certainly have proved that they are more than I initially thought. Still… Popstar's color continues to surprise me. It's only a matter of time before… ughh… ohh…"

Claycia felt woozy as she pulled her left hand to her eyes, nearly dropping the star in her right hand. She groaned in slight pain.

"This… can't…" she stuttered. "Ugh…"

Then the groans turned into growls. She moved her hand away from her eyes and clenched the fist.

"Stay silent or I'll silence you forever!" She yelled in a demonic-like voice.

 **Yes, Kracko is the replacement boss for Metal Whispy Woods. I was disappointed by the boss variety in the game. I was hoping for something different. I tried to base his moves from Triple Deluxe since that's his most recent appearance (other than his hologram form in Planet Robobot)**

 **I've started school but I'm still aiming for monthly updates. Perhaps even twice a month if I'm not too lazy/busy...**

 **The end of this chapter marks the halfway point of this story. Thank you guys so much for reading this weird and mediocre fanfiction. I like to give a huge thanks to Maxtreme as well. You're one of the people who inspire me to keep writing.**


	11. A Tour Through the Jungle

**I'm just gonna say that school destroyed most of my free time. It didn't help that I had writer's block too. Also... other games got me hooked whenever I DID have free time... _cough Pokemon cough_...**

 **Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2017 will be a much better year than 2016 for all of us. It's been a while since I last updated the story but I'm here to continue. Enjoy!**

Chapter 11: A Tour through the Jungle

In a dark hallway in a remote fortress, Claycia is using her magic on the golden star fragment causing it to glow rapidly and slowly illuminate more of the area. But as she continues her ritual, her grip on the star seems to be loosening more and more for some reason.

 _"_ _Almost there…"_ she thought.

The star began to rotate at a very fast rate while spewing out heavy winds from its core. The effect of this damaged the marble walls and colorless cotta statues nearby. Claycia's spell is continuing to decline the more it drags out.

"Argh… _Ego iam pars… audite sermonos meos…!"_

The gold star blasted a wind force directly at her in response. Claycia easily withstood it but at the cost of her concentration. She dropped her hands in exhaustion and nearly collapsed onto the ground. The star's light faded away, ceased its spin and the winds calmed.

Claycia gathered her breath for a moment before sighing in anger "I was so close… yet so far. This color… if I could just annex this power into my own, I can finally be able to create true clay… all without that fairy pest…"

She glanced at the golden star. "Elline…" she whispered in a much softer voice.

* * *

Orange Woodland is mainly composed of a jungle that's blanketed by the orange sky. There is currently no wildlife present in the area and the tall trees cover much of the sky.

"The air is so... fresh and the trees give off a true sense of nature!" Bandana Dee beamed. "It feels like it's been ages since I've last been in a jungle. I can't wait for the thrilling adventure we'll have here!"

"Right…" Elline said in an unamused manner. "Our 'thrilling adventure; will be a jungle scavenger hunt..."

Bandana Dee's happy attitude quickly turned to sorrow. "Oh right, the star shard and we don't have a single idea where it could be at huh."

"Poyo…" Kirby sighed sadly.

Elline crossed her arms and closed her eyes to think. Then she suddenly remembered something from before. "Kirby, can't you just bury out the star like you did before?"

Kirby's eyes widened up. He shook his head twice and shrugged in response causing Elline to sigh.

"This won't be as easy as I thought… unless…" She pulled out the cyan star from hammerspace. The star levitated on Elline's left hand with a faint cyan glow.

"What are you going to do with that?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"Remember, I can detect where a lost color originally came from. If I tap into this, I might be able pinpoint the location of the sister one." She winked.

"That makes things a lot more convenient." Bandana Dee said. "But you don't sound very sure about this."

"Hehheh..." Her charming face turned into a sheepish smile. "I've never done this before. Who knows what will happen? Hopefully it will lead us to the area where that star may be at."

"That's still better than searching through this whole jungle." Bandana Dee shrugged.

"Now then, let's see how this goes." The fairy focused her hands on the cyan star and concentrated. The star glowed in a bright color after a moment. Kirby and Bandana Dee watched in awe as it began spinning around rapidly.

"Notam fac mihi viam vobis!" She commanded. The star fired a bright white light towards the south. The light shot through the trees and disappeared out of sight.

The trio were wide-eyed at what just happened. The star dimmed its light and stopped spinning.

"That's… it?" Bandana Dee questioned. "Also, what in the world were you saying!? I've never heard you spoke like that before, Elline."

" _I knew this would happen._ I…I think I messed that up." She stuck out her tongue in a playful and embarrassing manner. "And I can't use my power on this right away. The star has to recharge."

 _"_ _You didn't answer my question."_ The waddle dee grumbled in his thoughts.

Kirby rolled towards the direction of where the light was fired to. "Poyo!" he signaled the pair to follow him.

"Looks like we have to follow the leader again." Elline said.

"I… I hope you don't mean him as a 'leader'." Bandana Dee spoke suddenly.

"Oh, no, no, we all worked together to get this far. Now let's go before he'll leave us behind." She flew on ahead.

Bandana Dee looked towards the trees in slight sadness. " _I'm lucky that I'm noticeable this time._ "

* * *

They journeyed through the jungle, admiring the quiet and non-hostile surroundings. The only sounds that could be heard were their movement through the woodland nature. A few minutes of walking, felt like hours of dragging through dirt, twigs, branches etc.

The area appeared not to be changing. Many of the trees look the same as the neighboring ones.

Elline was the first to notice this. She spun around to get a good look around her. "Have we been walking in a circle? Nothing seems to be changing."

"Nope, we're right on track." Bandana Dee said. "Take a look at the ground. There's a ton of grass growing around us and I don't remember seeing a single patch of grass growing when we arrived. We should be on the right track."

His knowledge on nature caught her by surprise. It makes her wonder how much does he know.

"You seem to know a lot about forest layouts. How did you get all that knowledge?"

Bandana Dee got excited but he kept his neutral composure. "As a waddle dee, you go anywhere the king tells you to go. And because of that, I was able to pick up a thing or two about landscapes and other interesting stuff."

"Ooh, what kind of interesting stuff?" she continued.

"Well, there's…" Bandana Dee bumped right into Kirby right before he would finish the question.

Kirby was looking around rapidly as if he was searching for something. He paid no mind to being bumped into.

Bandana Dee spoke up. "Umm, Kirby, is there…?"

"Poyoo…" he drooled. He then rolled away from the group into the bushes.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" Elline yelled and pursued him.

"Don't let him run off again!"

Kirby was plowing through bushes with his rolling dash, leaving a clear path for his friends to follow. Bandana Dee and Elline were able to catch up to him this time because he was slowing himself down with the thick bushes. Bandana Dee grabbed him and held him in place. Kirby tried to squeeze forward absentmindedly. Elline flew in front of them.

"T-try to hold him steady?" she said nervously.

"I can't hold him back forever!" Bandana Dee was feeling Kirby slip off his grip.

Elline took a close look at him. Kirby seemed to be in a hypnotic trace as food was being rouletted on his eyes several times.

" _Maybe this will work just like last time…_ " She bonked him on the head in the same manner as their first encounter in Dreamland, returning the puffball to normal.

"Poyo? Poyo!" he said angrily after realizing what happened.

"Sorry Kirby. I didn't know what else I could do." She replied sadly.

"Hey, at least it worked." Bandana Dee said. "I'm gonna assume that a random scent of delicious food was luring you somewhere. And that means one thing…"

"We… meet again… pests." A certain distorted voice echoed in the distance.

"Journey… ends… now." Another familiar voice echoed.

Bandana Dee sighed. "That's the one thing… or should I say they are the two things I was going to talk about…"

"Not them again. They're so persistent." Elline shivered.

The trio looked in separate directions. The Grab Hands could hiding be anywhere in the proximity.

"This isn't good…" Bandana Dee whispered.

"Poyo…"

As if on cue, the left hand lunged for Kirby from the side. He saw it in time and jumped out of the way reflexively, but he didn't see the right hand coming from behind him.

"Kirby, look out!" Bandana Dee stepped in and attacked the right hand with his spear.

"Why you…!" it yelled. "I'll... smash you!"

Elline used the opportunity to hide behind a bush and watched them fight.

"Those hands scare me too much…" she whimpered. "But I can't just hide here. They helped me so many times, now I have to help them." Elline looked around and saw a trail that's partially obscured by bushes.

She flew above the bushes and came across a river that seems to be flowing in the southern direction. Alongside the river, there are three blue gondolas attached to a rope that's hanging on the multitude of tree branches. Each seat was enough to fit a small being inside.

"This may help us..."

* * *

Kirby and Bandana Dee were backed into a tree. The Grab Hands are in fact clumsy yet they are formidable foes, even for the fighting duo. They lurked closer and closer. The heroes braced themselves for any attacks they would go for.

"Now… we've got you…" they yelled simultaneously.

"Kirby!" Elline yelled. She flew in from above and created a wall of rainbow rope in an instant that separated them and the hands.

"Where have you been?" Bandana Dee asked in an annoyed manner.

"No time to explain. Just follow me." Elline drew a rainbow rope that leads into the river she saw.

Seconds later, the Grab Hands tore apart the rope with their bare hands and saw that the trio was gone.

"They're… gone…!" the right hand yelled.

"Not… for… long…!" The left hand replied.

The trio appeared at the river in a flash.

"Gondolas? Good thinking, Elline. But we have to be careful. These things go really fast." Bandana Dee warned.

"Poyo!?" Kirby said in surprise.

Elline's second thoughts picked in. "Maybe we shouldn't get in after all…"

"But it's our fastest way of escape. We don't have a choice." He assured.

Elline sighed in defeat. "Okay then."

They all hoped into the three seats with Kirby in front, Elline in the middle seat and Bandana Dee in the back seat. Once they were all settled, the gondolas automatically locked them in with seat beats that nobody noticed.

"I-It's hard to move!" Elline yelled. "Why are these gondolas designed in the way they are!?"

"This must be a roller coaster."

The gondolas began moving on their own. They slowly picked up speed as they coursed down the river.

"This might be something exciting to write about in my diary but not something exciting to endure." Elline mumbled while shaking.

"Wait a second… my bandana… I forgot to take off my bandana! If we fall, it'll get wet! I don't want it to be wet!" Bandana Dee cried.

Kirby and Elline turned to him then at each other in confusion.

"T-t-this is a special bandana made by the great king. It took forever to dry this off safely from last time and the time before that!"

The Grab Hands appeared through the bushes at the river. They saw the trio riding on gondolas down the river.

"There… they… are..." the left hand yelled.

"Riding on… some weird… thing…?" the right questioned.

"Those fools… haven't seen... us..." the left said.

"…Sneak up... on... them..." the right suggested.

The gondolas continued to cruise down the river at a constant speed. The river water was starting to get more rough. The Grab Hands were stealthy flying out of sight from the trio.

"The forest surroundings are pretty. Maybe I could even paint my own portrait of nature." Elline mumbled.

"I think you can admire that tree branch that's in the way of our course." Bandana Dee pointed ahead.

A large tree branch was hanging around the gondola rope in the middle of the river. If they don't do anything, their river tour would end at the spot.

"D-d-does anyone have any ideas on what to do!?" Elline panicked.

Both Kirby and Bandana Dee were silent, although Kirby wasn't worried at all in the slightest for some reason.

The Grab hands were closing in the unsuspecting Bandana Dee. But they didn't notice the obstacle that's looming closer and closer.

"This is gonna hurt a lot." Bandana Dee shook with fear.

Both Elline and Bandana Dee screamed and braced for impact but Kirby remained silent. He was looking at his seat in interest. Specifically, he was looking at two levers that went unnoticed by the other two. The smaller one was in front and the slightly larger one was behind it.

"Poyo…" He pulled the small lever to see what would happen. A jolt of movement occurred to the gondolas causing the rope to shift towards the right end that's completely out of the way of the dangling tree branch. Kirby did this act not a moment too soon. A second later and it would have been a nasty collision for the trio.

However, the Grab Hands weren't paying attention. The left hand got caught in the branch and the right hand collided into him at full speed. After being stuck in the air momentarily, they both collapsed in the water.

Elline and Bandana Dee opened their eyes in confusion. They both turned around and saw that they were past the branch.

"How did…" Bandana Dee began.

"…we get through..?" Elline finished.

"Poyo?" Kirby spoke out innocently.

"Ohh…" Bandana Dee and Elline said simultaneously.

"Kirby, you saved us again!" she squealed with joy. "I wanna give you another hug!"

"So the front seat has a lever huh?" Bandana Dee tilted his head to the side. "How did we not see that?"

"I don't know. All that matters is that we're safe."

The random curse of jinxing has been brought upon them the moment she said that. The gondolas suddenly picked up speed for no reason. Now they are approaching…

"…An intersection is up ahead!" Bandana Dee warned.

"Which way do we go? Right or left?" Elline said.

"Hmm... I'm pretty sure skyguys says left." He assumed. "Right seems to full of rough waters."

"You heard him, Kirby. Switch to left."

"Poyo!" he agreed. Without much effort, Kirby moved his hand over the lever... which broke off for no reason, permanently trapping them in one track.

"Don't tell me…" Elline said with a horrified face.

"It broke didn't it? That thing must be rusty or something." Bandana Dee shrugged, already knowing what would happen next.

"Poyo…" Kirby smiled sheepishly and scratched his head.

That gave everyone a reason to scream. How would they escape an old, broken, and runaway gondola ride that may have a collision course somewhere?

* * *

Meanwhile, the Grab Hands just became woke up from from that nasty collision with a sturdy tree branch.

"Those pests… will not… get away…!" the left hand yelled.

"Uhhh… wait..." the right hand realized something.

"What is… oh… but why… now!? Doesn't Claycia… want us… to catch those… pests…!?"

"Must… follow… orders…" the right said.

"But... they may reach... the fortress... unless... we stop them... now...!"

"Claycia... may have... alternatives..."

They both knew Claycia had some sort of a backup plan. But she has yet to tell even them.

" _grumble…_ Fine… Let's go…" the left said while flying towards the sky.

* * *

The waters were as a rough as the ride. The trio was zooming through the area at fast speeds. Fortunatly, they are able to move the gondolas side-to-side themselves to avoid obstacles coming their way.

"There's another dangling tree branch!" Elline warned.

Kirby quickly swerved right, unbalancing the whole rope. Elline narrowly avoided the collision but Bandana Dee wasn't so lucky...

There was one more intersection ahead. Straight ahead contains calmer waters that lead into a strangely empty horizon while the right turn is the end of the ride.

Without saying anything, they made that right turn and were soon thrown off into the ground. The gondolas automatically reverted back on the river trail and disappeared out of sight.

Kirby stood up energetically and quickly rolled to Elline who was face down in the ground.

"Poyo?" he shook her to awaken her.

Elline opened her eyes quickly and saw his face. "I'm okay, Kirby." She said while flying back to her usual levitating height. "But… that was… surprisingly fun." She beamed.

"Poyo!" Kirby agreed after a moment.

"I wanna ride that gondola again. Maybe it'll take me to… I don't know… a magical mall?" she giggled. "So, Bandana Dee you… um…" Elline glanced around and found that the familar waddle dee was no where to be found.

"Poyo?" Kirby was also confused at Bandana Dee's disappearance.

"Bandana Dee? Where did you go!" Elline yelled slightly panicky.

"Poyo!" Kirby called out.

They walked around the area calling his name for some time. After a while, neither of them were able to find a trace.

"You… you think he wasn't able to get off the gondola!?" she screamed.

There was one more gondola went straight ahead instead of turning. As it approaches the horizon, sounds of water falling could be heard…

 **Oh look, a cliffhanger. Everything will be revealed next chapter assuming I don't take another 3000 years to submit the next chapter. Again, I'm sorry for being really inconsistent.**


	12. Native Pink Thing

**This chapter ended up being longer than I thought. Almost 3500 words. I guess I got carried away...**

Chapter 12: "Native Pink Thing"

Bandana Dee slowly opened his eyes. The images were blurry and his head was searing. Regardless, he powered through the headache and glanced around the area.

He wasn't in the forest anymore. Tall red mushrooms were as far as the eye could see. The area has way more sunlight compared to the jungle despite the mushroom caps being wide.

His memory was starting to come back to him. He placed his hand on his forehead as his headache slowly soothed. _"I... I remember being hit by something while riding..."_

The waddle dee looked ahead of him and saw a flowing river. The gondola he was on is lying on the water's edge out of repair. The rope that was attached to the zipline is torn and the seat itself has holes everywhere.

"Oh boy..." he mumbled. "If I'm here... I should start finding out where I am."

He regained his energy after a while and began walking away from the river. The odd scenery suggested to him that may be too quiet just like the jungle. It was rather strange that no other habitat was supposedly living in the world. Bandana Dee looked around suspiciously, with a strange feeling that he was being watched.

His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a rustle in nearby bushes. In an instant, he reached for his back and retrieved his spear. No other movements where heard by his ears but he kept his guard up. Behind a mushroom stem, a shadow figure intently watched the unsuspecting waddle dee and grinned.

Bandana Dee walked pass mushroom stems while being vigilant. The figure slowly got closer to him with a growing interest. However in a flash, Bandana Dee turned around and pointed his spear at it, halting it's movement.

The creature is a large, pink and levitating spore that didn't appear to be menacing at all. It had 8 small tentacles around its body. It has two eyes with eyelashes and a blue mouth. Both of them stared at each other in anticipation and slight fear on the waddle dee's side.

Without warning, the creature extended one of its tentacles at Bandana Dee's spear and snatched it away.

"H-hey! Give me back my spear!" He shouted. "It's my prized possession! And it makes me stand out from everything else!"

The spore creature looked at the spear with interest. Looking closely at it, it saw the name "Waddle Dee" engraved on the shaft near the head itself.

Bandana Dee grew frustrated. He could see that the creature meant no harm to him since it hasn't attacked at all. "Can you hear me!? Give me back my spear or else I'll… do something…"

The spore finally took notice of the angry waddle dee. But it giggled in a playful manner. "You know, you look awfully cute without this spear of yours." it said. The voice suggested that the spore creature is female.

He was taken back by the surprise compliment. "I'm not… cute. I'm… tough." He puffed out.

She giggled. "Sorry… I like to say that to some of the cottas that walk among Mushroom Hills and you remind me of one."

"But I don't look anything like a cotta. What are you anyways?"

"Me, you ask? Well, I'm flattered. Nobody has ever asked me what I am. They usually run off because they think I'm one of those other sportles." she giggled.

"Sportles?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"Yes, I am a sportle. A very rare kind of sportle actually. Mimosa is my name. And this spear of yours tells me that your name is Waddle Dee."

"Bandana Waddle Dee." He corrected. "You can call me Bandana Dee for short. And can you give me back my spear now!"

"Ah yes, here you go." Mimosa extended the tentacle with his spear to him. Bandana Dee accepted it with relief and put it away.

"Now then, I have to go find my friends. I guess I'll see you... another time." Bandana Dee turned around but Mimosa quickly flew in front of him.

"You can't return to the forest." She said. "The forest is blocked by a naturally high hill with one large waterfall spewing from it. If you try going back in there, the wall will laugh at you.

"But... how am I am going to find them now?"

"We'll wait for them to come. They'll turn up here eventually. The whole world is pretty straightforward. It's impossible to get lost."

Bandana Dee sat on the ground and sighed. "Why do we always get separated at the worst times? We'll never restore my home planet or Claycia at this rate."

The sportle's eyes perked up. "Claycia? What about her?"

"Oh right, since I'm stuck here for now, I might as well explain to you what's going on." Bandana Dee said.

* * *

"Bandana Dee, where are you?" Elline called out.

"Poyoo!" Kirby yelled.

Kirby and Elline were looking for their lost comrade throughout the jungle. Kirby searched through the landscape while Elline looked anywhere she could with her flight. After a while, they met up with each other towards the part of the river where the gondolas were thrown off.

"Any sign of him, Kirby?"

Kirby sadly shook his head and rested on the ground.

She sighed. "We have to keep looking. Who knows where he is at the moment?"

Elline flew ahead on the trail but she stopped almost almost instantly when she didn't hear the puffball by her side. She turned around and discovered him face down on the ground. In an instant, she flew over to his side.

"Hungry again?" she smiled.

"Poyo…" Kirby nodded.

Elline looked towards the surrounding trees. There were apples and oranges growing on the trees. She picked a few of each and piled it in front of Kirby.

He ignored the apple pile and dived straight into the orange pile. Elline smiled while watching him savour the meal. Something about him made him stand out to her so much. Although, she did wonder why he's not eating the apples...

Kirby finished his meal with a hiccup. "Poyo!" he said to Elline in thanks

She turned away and blushed. "N-n-no problem, Kirby."

The puffball roll beside her and down the stream, signaling her to follow.

"Oh... right. Let's go…" she said slightly disappointed.

* * *

"So that's what happened huh. Popstar's color was mysteriously drained away and you guys saved Elline from two purple hands. Since then, you've been travelling with her so you could retrieve that color back.

"Yes, and since then, a lot of weird events occurred. The three of us have gotten through them but I feel like it's getting worse."

"I see. Well... a lot of strange events happened in this world too. I think could be all connected somehow." Mimi suggested.

"Maybe…" Bandana Dee mumbled.

The two were silent for a while as they sat on the shore of the river.

"Kirby… he always gets all the attention." Bandana Dee whispered quietly. "And everyone forgets about me." Bandana Dee's words didn't go unheard. "He appears in the front of everything he's starred in and I either sit in the sidelines and deliver food to him during an adventure or be involved in some lousy sidegame that has no purpose whatsoever."

"Heheh… this is why I love to meet new people and see new places." Mimosa spoke suddenly.

Bandana Dee snapped out of his thoughts. "Wha-What are you…"

"You seem to not keep your thoughts to yourself…" Mimosa grinned.

* * *

Kirby and Elline appeared out of the forest and at the edge of a cliff. They're both gazing at the entirety of Mushroom hills along with a large tree hollow that's twice the height of the cliff they're on.

"This is Mushroom hills." Elline said. "There isn't much here. Just tall red mushrooms… and this waterfall that continues the river."

Kirby was gazing down the waterfall in interest. Elline followed his gaze.

"Y-you think Bandana Dee fell down here?"

Kirby didn't respond. Instead, he jumped off the cliff.

"Kirby!?" Elline quickly flew after him as he fell. Before they fell into the waterfall's base, Elline drew a rainbow rope that led him safely onto the ground.

Elline crossed her arms in annoyance. "Hey, you. Don't scare me like that."

"Poyo…" he scratched the back of his head apprehensively.

* * *

"Kirby gets all the attention. I always feel left out." Bandana Dee looked down in shame. "I was so happy when I had another chance to join Kirby on this adventure."

"Hmm..." Mimosa mumbled.

"But when we return to dreamland, nobody will know what happened because they probably won't remember having their color drained..." He laid down on his back and stared at the sky.

"But haven't you proven to be a valuable asset to Kirby?" she said. "I'm sure that wouldn't have made it here without your help."

Bandana Dee's eyes perked up. The sportle was right about that. He thought back to the times he fended off the Grab hands, convincing Elline to follow Kirby within the ruins, and fighting hordes of cottas on his own.

Mimosa already knew what he was thinking due to his expression. "Looks like you HAVE been a huge help."

"It's like you can read my mind..."

"The facial expressions are the best part. They say everything that words wouldn't."

That didn't sound very... right to him. In fact, many of her actions doesn't seem to be very "correct".

"Anyways, even if you are just another sidekick, somebody will always know who helped. Kirby and Elline both have to be very grateful for all that you have done."

Bandana Dee stood up. "Yes, you're definitely right Mimosa. And I still have to help in any way that I can."

"Good, that's the spirit."

"I've been sitting around here for too long." The waddle dee stood up with glee and morale. "I have to find them and continue our journey to save Claycia and my planet. Take care, and thanks for your help." Bandana Dee grabbed his spear and took off in the hills completely healed from injuries.

 _"Oh right,_ _I forgot to mention that I saved him from falling into his doom?"_ she giggled in her thoughts.

* * *

Bandana Dee ran through the hills looking for any sign of his companions. There had to have been a chance that Elline guided Kirby down here. At the same time, Kirby and Elline were moving through the area looking for the waddle dee. As soon as Kirby made a quick turn...

"Oww..." he moaned and fell on his back.

"Poyo..."

"That wasn't a good collision..." Elline said.

"Yeah, it wasn- wait what!?"

"Poyooo!"

Kirby gave Bandana Dee a tight hug in relief.

"Bandana Dee! You're okay! We've been looking everywhere for you. Did you get hurt?" Elline said in a concerned manner.

"I'm fine, you guys. I had help from somebody."

Elline's eye's widened in surprise. "Really? Who would be here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Only one sportle in mind." Mimosa appeared right behind the three of them.

Kirby instantly back up and assumed his fighting stance. Elline flew right behind him without even taking a close look at the sportle.

"Wait Kirby, she's not an enemy." Bandana Dee stood in front of the puffball.

Elline peeked above Kirby and noticed that Mimosa was smiling innocently at them.

"Oh… you're Mimosa, right? Elline said in surprise.

"…the charming pink sportle? Yes I am." She spun around in a circle and posed.

The trio looked at each other with anime sweat drops.

"It's been too long, Elline. Who's your friend that you're hiding behind?" The sportle spoke in interest.

"Poyo?" He waved at her happily.

Without warning, she flew close to him. The puffball felt uncomfortable and backed away instinctively. Elline flew out of their way with haste. Mimosa moved forward at the rate Kirby was rolling back.

"P-poyo?"

"You have a sort of charm in you that can bring anyone together. And I'm not just talking about your color or cute face."

Bandana Dee and Elline exchange glances in awkwardness. Kirby hit a mushroom stem while Mimosa continued examining him. Fear was most certainly not getting to him but confusion was.

"And you seem to roll like a ball because... you enjoy the method of travel even though it limits your true abilities."

Kirby blushed slightly and turned away in exasperation. Bandana Dee sighed at her comment. Elline however became skeptical.

" _'...it limits your true abilities.' What does she mean?"_ She pondered the thoughts in her head for a moment before sensing Kirby's need of "help".

"So uh, how long are you going to examine him like that?" Elline spoke up.

The sportle turned towards Elline then back at Kirby and vice versa excitedly.

"Umm, I…" Elline murmured.

Without warning, Mimosa extended one tentacle towards her and pulled her closer. With another of her 8 tentacles, she pushed Kirby and Bandana Dee out of hearing.

"Just something I wanna talk about to you." Mimosa giggled. "And I don't want the other two hearing this." she yelled the last part so Kirby and Bandana Dee heard.

"Wh-what are you-!?" she tried squirming out.

"You found yourself a perfect match, Elline." Mimosa whispered to her. Elline blushed in anger.

"I… you… he's…"

"What have you two been doing all alone in the forest, without your bandana guide?" she grinned.

"Trying to find our 'bandana guide'. Now can you let go of me!" Elline yelled. Mimosa was slightly taken back by her anger and let her go while still keeping the grin on her face.

"Sorry I couldn't help myself." Mimosa signaled the other two to come.

"Whatever happened seemed to have gotten you... a tad angry." Bandana Dee said.

"We're not going to mention what we talked about." Elline said while taking a quick glance at Kirby. "Anyways, I think it's time for us to continue. We need to move on to Red Volcano."

"And find the fragment of the rainbow star." Bandana Dee reminded.

The mere mention of the rainbow star surprised Mimosa.

"And we don't have a clue on where it is. This world is too big to explore the whole thing." Elline looked down sadly.

"I think I have what you fellows are talking about." Mimosa spoke up.

The trio turned towards her in surprise and interest. "Follow me, I'll show you."

* * *

Mimosa guided the trio through a more fungi-like section. They then came onto a large open area with a burrow in the center. It is large enough to fit the sportle inside and the appearance suggests that it's very sturdy.

"Is this where you live?" Elline asked.

"mmmhmm. Now, wait here. Lemme go fetch it." Mimosa told them. She flew inside the center and brought up the tan treasure chest all in a manner of seconds, shocking the trio.

"This treasure chest fell from the sky near my burrow. Since then, I've kept it here for safekeeping because I figured that the star thingie inside would be important." Mimosa placed it towards the trio. "I think it was meant for you guys to take."

"I would say so." Bandana Dee said.

"Come on, Kirby. Open the lid." Elline said.

Kirby nodded and he approached the chest. All of them were waiting with anticipation. Kirby's hand approached the handle but he stopped just before he would open it.

"Poyo…" he looked around cautiously. He instincts told him that something was in the area but what?

"There's nothing here… is there?" Bandana Dee said.

But there was something in the area. In fact, a multitude of yellow sloths were handing on the tall mushrooms behind them. Kirby was the first to notice them. Then the others followed his gaze.

"Oh no, not them again." Mimosa sounded irritated.

"What do you mean?" Bandana Dee asked.

"Those Dangle Sloths like to come here and mess everything up!" she yelled.

"Aren't sloths suppose to be slow and immobile?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"Not these ones." Elline spoke.

"Poyo!?" he said in surprise.

"Kirby what's... the chest! It's gone!" Elline yelled.

"Those sloths snatched it from behind our backs." Bandana Dee pointed at one holding the chest up high on top of the mushroom.

"Hey! Give it back! I found it first!" Mimosa yelled at them.

The sloths replied with taunting laughs. One of them even pulled out a bomb and took aim at them. The rest followed but they took aim in different directions.

"Quick, hide into my burrow!" Mimosa yelled.

"I-in there?" Elline said worriedly.

"Yes, in there. There's nothing to be scared about." She replied.

The four jumped into the hole just as the sloths unleashed their bombardment. Once it ended, they took off on top of the untouched mushrooms. The four of them climbed out and saw many mushroom stems destroyed or fallen. Nobody said a word for a while.

"I'm... I'm sorry about your home, Mimosa." Elline said in attempt to break the silence.

Mimosa sighed but smiled. "It's alright, mushrooms grow back quickly anyways. But we can't let them get away."

"Right, we really need that fragment or else we can't restore Popstar." Elline said.

"Those things live in the Giant Tree hollow at the center. Let's go wish upon a star."

The trio nodded and ran, flew and/or rolled as fast as they could in pursuit of those dangle sloths.

* * *

Ever since Kracko was defeated by the hands of Kirby, The Blue Sky Palace is in a much better state. Many of the cottas were more active in the world then before but they all never strayed too far from their main cloud. Each one of them socialized to another except one cyan cotta. Cyano was walking around innocently on a desolate cloud near the old tower.

 _"_ _Hmm… there should be something else here."_ He thought. The cotta looked towards the sky and smiled slightly. That is, until he noticed something coming in his direction. The mass amount of figures were getting larger by the second.

The Grab Hands and a swarm of bombzways flew through the sky. Cyano instinctively cowered and dived in the cloud he was standing on in fear. The swarm passed over him and continued going lower in the altitude.

After they passed, Cyano peeked from below to get a closer look. What he saw was them pulling up Bastron's head from the abyss at the lowest altitude. Until now, he had thought that the world was an endless sky. Now he wonders how they broke through the layer. It's impossible to fall into the abyss because there is a mysterious force brings anyone upwards.

"Why… do we… have to… do this…?" the right hand said.

"Probably because… we… left the ship… to be… destroyed…" the left hand said.

"Oh… but… that… uh…"

"Just… be quiet… and… help me carry this…" the left said.

"Then… when do we… commit to… our other… orders…?" the right asked.

"Once we're done..." The left hand responded. "Those pawns… should… enjoy their… freedom… while it lasts… hmmhmmhmm…"

"That's not... never... mind..." the right hand sighed

The Grab Hands and bombzaways eventually flew into the sky with the head. Cyano watched them intently until they disappeared out of sight.

"I feel really scared. Something horrible may happen soon…" he shivered.

 **This chapter was kinda all over the place. First, there's a new character (and last new original character), then Bandana Dee revealing some of his struggles, the second chest that's bound to contain another star and lastly there's Bastron's head which was presumably lost in the abyss. I wonder what Claycia plans for it in the coming chapters... *wink wink**

 **Mimosa's origins as a character came from the description of a sportle in the actual game. We never saw a pink sportle, it was only mentioned for some reason. Then there's the mimosa tree in real life and all that stuff...**


	13. The Sportle's Antics

**This chapter's length is not the reason why I haven't uploaded. It's because I encountered severe writer's block for many scenes...**

Chapter 13: The Sportle's Antics

Kirby, Bandana Dee, Elline and Mimosa followed the river path towards the Giant Tree hollow. The yellow dangle sloths stole a treasure chest that contains another star fragment from them and fled. Now they are pursuing them in hopes to get them back.

Mimosa led the way on the river trail with the trio following closely behind. Since meeting her, the trio were skeptical about her due to her unusual behavior.

"Hey, Elline." Bandana Dee whispered. "Who is Mimosa really?"

Elline turned towards him. "She's a sportle that Claycia and I somehow created while we were crafting this world."

"Somehow?" he questioned.

"It's a story… that doesn't need to be told." She emphasized those last words. "Just know that Claycia don't mind her being around. She doesn't cause trouble at all she's just..."

"Fellows, we're here." The sportle announced, causing the trio to stop in their tracks.

The tree's height is something to be admired at. From far away, it was tall and harmless. But closer up, one can feel it's presence looming over them. All of its orange leaves were slowly falling off the branches as if it were autumn. Additionally, the outside trunk is completely orange-like in color. The trio wondered how far the tree roots extended underground.

The four of them entered the tree base. Strangely, the interior had green leaves growing on the inside branches and moss grew in the moist, shady areas. None of the dangle sloths were present. Vines hung from the ceiling which has a hole leading towards the top, most likely for the sloths to enter and exit through. The river continues into an underwater passage. Those were the only two apparent ways to go deeper inside.

"Normally, I don't like to explore here for certain reasons. But if those sloths steal something of mine that I was going to give to friends…" Mimosa gritted her teeth.

"We're going to get it back for sure." Bandana Dee said.

"Oh, we will." The sportle smirked.

"Hey guys! Look at what I found!" The fairy brought over a canvas stand that was hiding beneath bushes.

Bandana Dee eyed the water cautiously. "That means it's time for Kirby submarine… and my bandana getting wet… again…"

"Kirby Submarine?" Mimosa questioned.

"It's one of the three transformations Elline can only give to Kirby." Bandana Dee explained. "She needs to use that thing in order for that to happen."

"I can transform almost anything, you know!" she remarked. Bandana Dee playfully rolled his eyes in response.

Elline assumed paintbrush form and brushed over the canvas, creating a submarine picture. Then she quickly brushed the art over Kirby's body, instantly transforming him into a submarine.

"No dawdling this time?" Bandana Dee said in a surprised fashion.

"Nope!" she smiled although wishing he could see Kirby as a fish again. "We're moving straight ahead. And I get to sit on his seat again!"

"Ohh… what power you have. How do you know this works on almost anyone?"

"Beats me. Claycia probably knows. She's the one who told me what I could do…"

"I see…" Mimosa grinned.

"Anyways, it's your turn Bandana Dee." Elline gestured.

"Uhh…" Bandana Dee looked around frantically, trying to find a way around this. He then remembered seeing another passage when they entered.

"N-no, I'll just go with Mimosa upwards. If we split up, we'll cover more ground." He stumbled while attempting to keep his composure.

This didn't fool the fairy.

"Hmm… you don't want your precious bandana won't get wet again aren't you." Elline smirked.

"N-nooo! That's not true! I just thought that since this is a huge tree, it'll be best to split up so we can have, uh, a better chance at finding that chest."

"Uh-huh…" she narrowed her eyes.

"Well… I'd prefer if I didn't go underwater. That passage up above is telling me that I should go there." Mimosa smiled, putting relief on Bandana Dee's shoulders.

"Hmm, I guess that makes sense." Elline said.

Bandana Dee pointed at Kirby. "I wouldn't be questioning me if I were in your shoes." Elline figured out what he meant. " _If you had shoes that is.._." he thought.

"Poyo?"

"I… that's…" she blushed.

"Hehe… you two know each other so well…" Mimosa jumped in.

Bandana Dee and Elline gave annoyed glances at each other then turned away with arms crossed.

"Anyways…" the sportle's tone got slightly serious. "Let's move on and get back at those sloths."

Kirby hopped into the water and opened his windshield helm. Elline flew inside and closed it. Bandana Dee climbed onto Mimosa's back. It was soft but surprisingly not slippery.

"Alright, little waddle dee, let's go fly-high." She shouted.

"Don't call me 'little'…" he said with an annoyed tone as they flew into the hollow.

"It seems like they're gone. Let's go Kirby!" Elline said.

Kirby nodded and dived underwater. The water became murky as he swam deeper due to all the moss. He turned on his "painted-in" flashlight and swam forward.

Many underwater plants were obscuring their view. In addition, the area became darker as they swam. It felt like ages but it's only been a few minutes.

"I don't like the dark. It always feels like there's something is hiding in it and waiting for the moment to pounce on us." Elline said.

"Poyo…" Kirby mumbled.

Suddenly, a few blippers swam right by the submarine. Kirby fired torpedoes and defeated them at ease. But some stray shots caused small branches to fall into the water.

"I don't think you should be doing that, Kirby. We don't want the whole tree coming down on us."

A large object dropped in water and got their attention. It was round and colored black, which was unusual because only tree branches were falling on the duo. When Kirby investigated, it blew up and knocked him back into a wall. Elline hit her head on the glass by the force of the small explosion.

"Oww…" she moaned. "Something tells me that those sloths are above us. Maybe we should go to the surface and see."

Kirby did as she commanded. When they looked around, they noticed many entry holes and vines hanging from them. One such sloth exited from a hole and noticed the duo in the water. After a moment of staredown, the creature threw another bomb at Kirby. He quickly retaliated by firing a missile, causing a small explosion. Kirby fired another one through the smoke and knocked out the sloth.

Three more sloths dropped down while hanging on vines and prepared more bombs. In a flash, Kirby defeated them all before they could attack. The mini explosions caused the tree to shake slightly.

"Good job pal! Now we should move on before more comes back." Elline suggested.

"Poyo!" He said as he dived underneath again.

* * *

"Wow, you can fly really fast." Bandana Dee hung on tight as Mimosa made tight maneuvers around tree branches through corridors. "…and accurately."

"Of course I can! I had all the time in the world to train up." Mimosa chirped.

"Also, why didn't you fly me up the cliff earlier?"

"So I could not have a chance to have a chat to you? No way! It can get pretty lonely here." She said while making more maneuver through branches.

"Lonely… until cottas pass by?"

Mimosa slowed down as they entered an open area with sizable holes all over the place. Bandana Dee hopped off her back and walked beside her.

"mmmhmmm. But they don't stay for long. They… hold on a sec… we aren't alone." The sportle's vigilant eyes search the area.

"Are those sloths here?" Bandana Dee questioned while equipping his spear.

"No, worse…!" She pointed at one particular hole upwards with a tentacle. "Other sportles…"

A yellow one-eyed sportle stared at them. It was around the same size as Bandana Dee. It looked a lot more menacing compared to Mimosa.

"You see, these guys are really, really territorial and they fight anyone they see."

"That means…" Bandana Dee gulped.

"Yes, we have to fight our way to the top."

More angry yellow sportles appeared. Bandana Dee jumped in front of Mimosa in battle ready position.

One of them flew right into the waddle dee. He easily fended it off with the spear's tip and destroyed it, leaving a puff of spore lingering in the air.

"Eww…" He muttered at the remains.

"Don't worry." She assured. "It's just spore that'll come back to life after a while. Oh and don't let it hit your eyes. It's bad news if it does."

"I'll rather not let it touch my bandana..." Bandana Dee shivered.

Two more yellow sportles appeared behind the duo. Mimosa anticipated them and extended two tentacles at them. Once caught, she smacked them into each other, causing them to explode in spore.

The remaining sportles grew angrier. They now swarmed onto them, hoping to overwhelm them.

"Get your spear ready." Mimosa warned.

Before Bandana Dee could react, Mimosa grabbed him and used him as a wrecking ball to ward off the creatures. In fear of collision, Bandana Dee shifted his spear in front of him and closed his eyes. He felt spore hitting his face multiple times. The remaining sportles bundled up at the exit. Mimosa flung the waddle dee like a baseball at the group.

The only thing Bandana Dee could remember is hitting a tree wall face-first. He slowly slid down onto the ground with a trail of spore glittering in the air behind him.

"Whoops, I wasn't thinking about the 'wall collision'". Mimosa giggled.

"You… th-th-think?" Bandana Dee muttered.

Mimosa picked up the waddle dee by leg. "Let's go before they form back. Some of them hold grudges for a period of time."

* * *

More than half of the giant tree's inner trunk is filled up of water that's steady rising (or falling?). Elline figured that this may not be natural but she didn't want to ponder on it. Kirby looked up and he could see light from the surface, so he followed the source upwards.

After a while, the area slowly became brighter as they swam upwards. Sawgils that were patrolling the area caught their eye on Kirby and chased him.

Kirby quickly fired torpedoes at them only for the attacks to hit their saws instead of their flesh. The vicious enemies attempted to slash Kirby but he swerved through their attacks. The submarine continued to swim upwards while the vicious enemies continued to chase the duo.

The duo discovered more sawgils up ahead, blocking the route to the surface

"These fish are all around us! What do we do!?" Elline panicked as Kirby stopped in place.

"Poyo…" Kirby began concentrating.

"This is…" Elline froze.

The submarine spewed a torpedo that is the same size as itself in one direction. Then it made a U-turn towards the pursuing sawgils and it defeated them. The torpedo then made another U-turn, flew past Kirby who was concentrating and collided with the sawgils.

The torpedo exploded once Kirby became relaxed. The path is now clear and more light is revealed from the surface, signaling that they are close to the top.

"Kirby… that was amazing…"

"Poyo!" he agreed.

Once they reached the surface, Elline flew out of the windshield and Kirby transformed back to normal. The passage spiraled towards the exit was at the ceiling which was partially concealed by tree leaves.

The pair moved into the corridor with the feeling that they were close to the top. Elline was strangely silent as she usually sparks up a conversation if needed…

"Umm, Kirby?" Elline stuttered.

"Poyo?" he turned towards the fairy.

"I… I just wanted to thank you. For all you have done for me. If it weren't for you, I don't know what would have happened to me."

Kirby smiled brightly. "Poyo!"

"You mean it? Th-thank you." She smiled back and blushed which caught Kirby himself in a slight blush.

They exited the corridor and appeared at a hallway that leads towards a large wooden door. Kirby and Elline weren't paying attention to that however. Instead, they were staring at each other awkwardly.

"Maybe… I should give this to you… right now…" Elline broke the silence.

"Poyo?" Kirby widened his eyes in suspense as the fairy flew closer to him…

"Heeeey guys!" a familiar voice called out much to the annoyance of Elline.

"Poyo!" Kirby waved and rolled towards Bandana Dee and Mimosa.

"What took you two so long?" Mimosa teased.

"We had… some trouble." Elline mumbled vaguely as she followed Kirby.

"We did as well." Mimosa replied. "But we're all here in one piece amirite?"

Elline glanced at Kirby for a moment. "Yeah, I guess…"

"So… all that remains is this door." Bandana Dee walked over to the door and pushed it open easily. The four made their way inside hoping to find the lost chest and leave the tall tree.

They were now in some sort of arena-like room. The strangely inorganic walls were curved outward. The ceiling was a huge nest of green leaves and sturdy branches. The floor is a collection of smooth but worn out branches that spirals its way into the center in an organized fashion.

The door immediately closed and locked behind them and a roar erupted from above. Then out of nowhere, a large tannish, yellow creature landed in front of them.

The gorilla-like yeti creature was much larger than the four of them put together. He sports a long lock of light green hair as well as black eyes. The look of its arms suggests that it has immense strength but a slow speed.

"I figured that those sloths had a leader." Mimosa said, clearly unfazed by the threat in front of her. "This is the first time I've seen him."

"That creature looks like Goriath!" Bandana Dee said.

"Goriath?" Elline questioned.

"Yes. Goriath is a yeti that Kirby and I fought some time ago. This one doesn't seem to be like the other one though."

The beast glared at the four of them for moment then jumped into one of the high branches.

"Poyo!" Kirby scattered in a different direction before anyone else can move.

"Oh I see… that thing is going to try and smash us with its weight." Mimosa said. "And Kirby foresaw that move."

Goriath jumped off and attempted to ground pound the stationary trio. Mimosa grabbed Elline and Bandana Dee and tossed them towards Kirby's direction.

"Wh-what are you…!?" Bandana Dee yelled.

"Trust me!" she winked as Goriath was about to land on her.

The crash created a ton of smoke and shook the arena. As the smoke cleared, Goriath was standing albeit struggling due to the intensity of that ground pound.

"Mimosa…?" Elline said in shocked.

"Is she…" Bandana Dee looked away in disbelief.

"Poyo…" Kirby was about to tear up.

"Behind you fellows." A voice said.

It took a moment to register what exactly happened. It was like all of time stopped until Mimosa decided to break the silence.

"Even I can't share my secrets now can I." she stuck out her tongue in a goofy manner. "That crash landing weakened the tree. If he does it again, he's going to have a… pleasant fall all the way to the bottom of the tree."

"Better attack him now to get his attention." Bandana Dee suggested as he equipped his spear.

"Good idea." Mimosa smiled mischievously at him. Bandana Dee knew what she was going to do.

"Wait! Hold on!" he flinched as she got closer.

To his surprise, he didn't feel a tight grip. But he heard protesting from someone else…

"Poyo!? Poyo!" Kirby yelled.

"Kirby, I'll throw you instead. Brace yourself!"

"Wait!" Elline spoke up. "Are you sure you're going to—"

Mimosa hurled Kirby towards the monster. On instinct, Kirby spun around to increase his power while simultaneously bracing for impact. The creature simply slapped him back with the back of his hand, launching him upwards into the true crown of the tree.

"Oh, great!" Elline glared at Mimosa. "Now what?"

"Find Kirby and the treasure chest, and then defeat this guy." Mimosa said unfazed.

"That's not… what… forget it…" she sighed.

The monster charged at them like a bull. In response, Elline drew a rainbow rope upwards to guide Bandana Dee as Mimosa flew alongside it. They disappeared into the tree branches. Watching from below, Goriath jumped after them.

The inside of the crown was purely green from all the tree leaves and larger than the room below.

"There it is!" Mimosa pointed at the treasure chest resting on a throne of leaves that's most likely for Goriath.

"As well as Kirby!" Elline pointed to a higher section. The puffball was lying motionless on a rather large leaf on the next floor.

"I'll go get him!" Elline declared and took off.

Goriath tore through the floor and landed in front of Bandana Dee and Mimosa. It looked enraged possibly because they invaded his "throne room".

"Looks like it's just you and me little dee." She grinned at Bandana Dee.

Goriath approached the duo and roared. It raised its hands up in the air and prepared to crush them with his power.

Bandana Dee and Mimosa quickly side-stepped then retaliated with their small barrage of attacks. Goriath winced at the pain of being stabbed by a spear and hit by a multitude of tentacle strikes but it didn't stop him. He pulled out a tree branch from the ground (which did weaken the ground) and used it as his own weapon.

While the other pair continued their fight, Elline flew towards the motionless Kirby. She breathed a sigh of relief when he appeared fine as she closed in.

"Hang on Kirby. I'm coming!" she said.

As she flew closer, some dangle sloths pop out from the surrounding branches. They all looked visibly upset because of what happened in the base of the tree.

"Oh, come on!" Elline pouted. "Can't we ever catch a break?"

One sloth jumped off and dived towards the fairy. She easily dodged the attack. Unfortunately for the sloth, it didn't consider that the fairy is pretty nimble so it continued to fall to the ground in shame. Before it landed, Goriath caught the poor thing and tossed it at Bandana Dee and Mimosa, knocking Bandana Dee into the sportle.

"Wh-where did this sloth come from!?" Bandana Dee questioned as he stood up.

"Sorry!" Elline yelled apologetically.

"I gotta say, the beast learned from the best. I'm impressed." Mimosa grinned.

"How about we best the beast before we make more rhymes?"

"But you just made one..." Mimosa giggled, causing the waddle dee to facepalm upon realization.

A few other dangle sloths pulled out bombs and aimed at her. Elline created her rainbow rope shield just as they tossed it at her and stopped the attack.

The sloths continued to bombard the shield. The attacks quickly drained the shield, signaled by the yellow hue it's gaining. Elline redrew another shield in a quick fashion just as the initial one dissipated. The sloths continued their bombardment with no end in sight.

"Geez, how many bombs do they keep with them!?" she retorted.

"A lot…" Mimosa answered with a grin. "And I know from experience."

"At least you're protecting us as well." Bandana Dee added.

"But… I can't… keep painting… forever…!" Elline said as she redrew another layer which is already running dry.

In the midst of all the chaos happening, a certain puffball awakes. He got up slowly and blinked twice, trying to remember what caused him to black out.

"Poyo!" Kirby said in realization. He rolled over to the edge of the leaf and saw his friends battling Goriath. It is currently a stalemate but slightly favoring Bandana Dee and Mimosa. He then looked above them and saw Elline holding back an endless barrage of bombs from the dangle sloths.

"Poyo!" Kirby said as he jumped from branch to branch (with his feet). He surprised attacked each sloth and they tumbled to the ground.

Elline's shield gave out right as they stopped. Depleted of rainbow energy, she took a slow fall to the ground. Kirby quickly saw her falling and caught her in midair before she crashed onto the ground. He carried her in the same manner from back at Dreamland.

"Poyo, poyo?" he asked worriedly.

Elline opened her eyes slowly. "Yes, Kirby, I'm okay. Thanks to you." She brought him into another affectionate hug.

Goriath was worn out, not just by the damage he's taking but by how each of his own powerful moves quickly drains his own stamina. Bandana Dee and Mimosa were panting as well.

"How long can… he keep going?" Bandana Dee said between breaths.

"He won't stop at all…" Mimosa muttered. "He'll keep going until we fall over…"

"Let's make sure that won't happen then." Elline said.

"Poyo!" Kirby agreed, causing the sportle and waddle dee to turn around.

"Kirby, you're awake!" he said.

Goriath saw that they weren't paying attention. So he jumped high above them and prepared another ground pound. Kirby hastly pointed upward to warn everybody then moved away. The other three quickly followed suit. The yeti missed again and weakened the floor even more.

"That's it!" Mimosa exclaimed.

"What's it?" Elline and Bandana Dee said simultaneously.

"We have to make him weaken this floor even more. With the four of us, we can make him fall down all the way into the base of the tree." She pointed at the weakened ground around the beast.

"I could use my paint to help but I have to recharge for a bit." Elline said.

"Hehehe… we can also use them to help." Mimosa pointed upwards.

Three yellow sportles emerged from the inside of the crown. They caught sight of Bandana Dee and Mimosa became enraged.

"Poyo!?" Kirby said in surprise.

 _"_ _I don't remember any other sportles being created."_ Elline thought. _"Now that I think about it, those dangle sloths were never created on my watch…"_

"Those three regained form pretty quickly but I told you that these sportles will be back, little Dee. We can use them to our advantage."

"I see what you mean… Ms. Sportle…" Bandana Dee said in an annoyed matter, possibly because she called him "little" again.

Three sportles charged in on the group while Goriath decided to stay in one place to recover some stamina. Bandana Dee easily destroyed the three of them, leaving behind spore on his spearhead.

"Now let's attack again!" Mimosa encouraged.

Kirby began rolling forward followed by Bandana Dee and Mimosa. Seeing the attack, Goriath braced itself for whatever they're going to do.

Kirby pulled a feint by stopping then rolling back, causing Goriath to become confused. Then Mimosa flew up top and started pulling on the creature's single lock of green hair.

"How do you like that!?" Mimosa laughed while the creature roared in pain and stomped on its feet.

Kirby then performed rolling dashes on the creature, knocking him back slightly as it tried getting the sportle off of his lock of hair.

Then Bandana Dee walked on the rainbow rope provided by Elline to get the perfect jump.

"Finish him, Bandana Dee!" she yelled as she stopped painting.

The waddle dee jumped off with its spear pointed towards the beast's eyes. Goriath managed to get Mimosa off of him and knock Kirby away but he didn't see real the attack coming.

Bandana Dee slashed its forehead and made sure that the yellow spore on his spear would glitter over its eyes. Everything and everyone was quiet and motionless. Then Goriath roared in pain as the yellow spore completely blocked his vision.

"That's… pretty gruesome." Elline spoke outloud.

"The yellow sportles are gruesome too." Mimosa said.

Goriath flung itself all over the place due to the burning sensation in its eyes. It jumped up and down on the floor and rolled around on it like a dog scratching its back. Eventually, the branches holding the floor broke underneath him. For a moment, he was frozen in air. Despite losing his vision, he looked down and gasped before tumbling.

The band of four ran towards the newly created hole and watched Goriath tumble through the floor that they were just on and all the way into the water with a huge splash.

The creature was completely silenced when it hit the water. Its body's color changed into a shade of grade and froze in place. Soon his face disappeared and other body structures disappeared before finally exploding in clay.

The band of four were wide-eyed at the result. They weren't expecting that monster to be made of clay. Elline was the first to break the initial silence.

"This world… this quiet world was affected by Claycia's magic." Elline muttered. "She made that yeti just to stop us."

"But we were able to best another one of her magic tricks." Bandana Dee said. "And that brings us another step closer to confronting her."

"Poyo!" Kirby nodded.

"I'm glad we won… but Claycia is becoming worse and worse." Elline began to tear up. "She would never create a being this dangerous."

"Elline, we'll find out the reason on why she's changed. Then we'll save her. The three of us can do it." Bandana Dee raised his spear in the air triumphantly.

Elline looked up at the Bandana Dee then Kirby whom were smiling at her encouragingly. Then she brought the pair of them into a hug.

"Thanks you guys." She whispered. "You two are the best."

"Poyo!"

"Heheheh!"

"Now there's one thing we came here for..." Elline said as she broke the embrace.

"Are you talking about this glorious treasure chest?" Mimosa set the item down in front of them.

"Apparently so…" Bandana Dee said.

"Now, Kirby, open the thing and we'll be on our way." She grinned brightly at him.

Kirby nodded and opened the lid without hesitation. Purple light shined from the inside. He reached inside and retrieved the star. It's colors are indigo and purple. Like the cyan star, the indigo is on the center portion and purple is on the outside portion and vice versa on the other side.

"Thank goodness we found this." Elline said. "I was worried that something bad happened to this shard."

"Now we just need to find the third shard in the next world." Bandana Dee said.

"Poyo…" Kirby sat on the ground exhausted.

"…once we take a break, that is." Bandana Dee added. "We've been through so much in one day and my feet are really aching."

Mimosa smiled. "We should first get out of this tree. I know a shortcut back my burrow."

"F-from up here?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"Yep! I know this tree really well." She boasted.

The trio looked at each other with anime sweat drops.

As they climbed down the tree, they all noticed that the rainbow bridge was extended from the tree trunk and continued into the sky. Not too long later, they hit solid ground and followed the sportle to her burrow as the sun began to set...

* * *

Elsewhere, a lone figure stood at the top of a volcano. Volcanic ash continuously fell from the sky and the black clouds covered most of the sunlight. She stared into the entirety of the world as the winds blew through her blue hair. It was unusual for Claycia to leave the protection of her lair.

The Grab Hands and the horde of bombzaways appeared with Bastron's head. They barely managed to land the giant material there and rested on the ground.

"Good…" Claycia mumbled without turning around. "You two fools have done something competent for once." The hands flinched when she said "for once".

"C-c-claycia…" the right hand muttered.

"We…"

The sculptress halted their speech by raising her right hand against them. "I'll see what that pink pest is capable of with the remains of my battleship."

"But… you can't… repair it… in time…" the left hand replied.

"You're right; I can't with just my power alone." She brought out the golden star and turned around, revealing purple sunglasses covering where her eyes would be. The barely visible pupils beneath the lens glowed in a faint white.

"You mean…" the right hand started.

"Yes… though this star still continues to resist, I have tapped into most of its potential."

Claycia levitated towards the destroyed head. In a flash, she lifted the star shard into the air, making it spin rapidly while emitting light from its core. It fired a beam towards the head and slowly started repairing the body.

"Now this will be repaired at a much faster rate. Imagine the full strength of this color, once I completely manifest it and unite the other three that I hid." She laughed slightly manically.

The Grab Hands looked at each other with promise.

"What… shall we… do now…?" The right asked.

"As for you two, I want you to go back to Blue Sky Palace." she smirked.

 **That is now 5 worlds complete. Red Volcano is next and after that... is where it all finishes. From here on, Claycia starts her plan in motion. I'll have more detail about this on my deviant update that I'll post very soon so look forward to that. It should take a few clicks to switch your way over there.**

 **I'll also start using my fanfiction profile more just to keep you all up to date on what's going on. I haven't even touched it since I first made my account.**


	14. Memories, Promises and a Reunion

**Oh look, two chapters in one month. When was the last time that occurred….**

 **Also, thank you KirbyPwnz1234 for the review. It gives me the motivation to keep writing this dumb fanfic heheh.**

Chapter 14: Memories, Promises and a Reunion

Red Volcano is clearly the most hostile planet the trio has experienced so far. Unlike the vibrant eco worlds, this planet is geologically active. Black clouds cover the entire sky, leaving little room for sunlight. Lakes and rivers of lava periodically flow through different areas. The main volcano towers over the entire world.

The rainbow bridge connected into a rocky wasteland. There is no streams of lava present and the temperature is above average.

"Hey, Elline." The fairy turned towards the waddle dee with a neutral expression. "Do you remember if there are any other good clay life forms here?"

"No there isn't." she replied. "It's just the blue cottas and Mimosa."

"So it's really just us here."

"Yup."

"You sure?"

"Yes…"

"Are you really su—"

"Okay, what's all this about?" Elline asked in an irritated fashion.

"Nothing!" Bandana Dee shook his hands nervously. "I'm just trying to get us prepared the unexpected."

"Oh, you should have said so." Elline's irritated gaze relaxed.

"Poyo." Kirby agreed.

"Even Kirby agrees." She giggled. Bandana Dee sighed. "Now then, let's go!" She flew on ahead.

"Hey! Wait up!" Bandana Dee yelled while running after her with Kirby.

Luckily for them, there were no enemies of any kind hiding here. The volcanic activity is nonexistent as well so it's safe to travel here.

Elline led the group at a steady but fast pace. Kirby and Bandana Dee talked to each other about things but Elline remained silent.

Many thoughts were going through the fairy's mind. Particularly, she was thinking about what will happen when they will reach Claycia and how they are going to restore her mind. Until now, she never thought about potentially fighting her formal friend. A fight with Claycia is the last thing she needs because so many things can go wrong.

As she dwindled on these thoughts, more memories of the past resurfaced…

* * *

Red Volcano was just finished by the painting duo, Claycia and Elline. The sculptress landed on the newly made ground and released her grip on Elline, who transformed back to normal.

The main volcano is inactive and will stay inactive according to Claycia. The sky is completely clear of clouds and the surrounding lava lakes were fresh out of the ground.

"Whew… that took a while to paint." Elline drooped in height.

"Indeed. Crafting Red Volcano wasn't an easy feat." Claycia said.

"So, can we take a break now? My own hair is killing me."

"Of course, my fairy friend." She replied. "I just need to be alone for a bit."

"Okay then, I'm going to go check on those cottas and that sportle… assuming I find her." Elline gave a sheepish giggle. "I'll see you at the spot for our Rainbow Resort, okay?" Claycia nodded in which Elline returned a smile before flying away towards Blue Sky Palace."

After the she left, Claycia reached into her robes and pulled out a pair of dark purple sunglasses. It was surrounded by a faint reddish aura.

"Just who are you." She asked unfazed.

" _Wear… me…"_ it replied quietly, clearly ignoring the question it was asked.

"Why should I wear you?" Claycia asked with a tone of anger in her voice.

 _"_ _I can… give you what you desire…"_ it replied.

"Like what? There is nothing I desire other than my personal paintbrush that I treat like my little sister." She said.

" _That's not… true."_ It replied. _"Do away with that… petty material you have!"_

"How dare you call her a 'petty material'!?" Claycia yelled which was completely out of her character. The glasses merely laughed at her sudden outburst.

 _"_ _Good… your negative energy… it feels so good…!"_ it snarled.

"N-negative… energy?" she questioned. "Is that what this is about? You realize that I could throw you into the lava right now and be done with you?"

 _"Yes, you could..."_ The glasses admitted. _"But you won't."_ Claycia frowned her eyes in response. _"Y_ _ou had the will to find me in the middle of space and hold on to me? You didn't toss me away when I first asked you to wear me now did you?"_ Claycia slightly gasped at the material's words. _"You cannot dispose of me because you haven't realized what you truly desire!"_

"What? What is it that I do I truly desire!?" Claycia yelled.

The glasses didn't respond for a time. The red aura around it dispersed and it lay on Claycia's palm motionless.

Having enough games, the sculptress glanced at a nearby lava lake. She levitated towards it and prepared to toss the sunglasses into it. As she was preparing her toss, the glasses shook furiously and radiated red aura her palm.

Claycia dropped the glasses instantly and backed away. The material levitated off the ground and stared at the shocked sculptress.

"Just what are you!?" Claycia yelled as the glasses began laughing hysterically.

 _"_ _You need…. ME!"_ it yelled before lunging onto Claycia. The last thing she saw were the glasses coming to her before her vision went black…

The sculptress awoke some time later and noticed that her hands were purple and her vision turned into a shade of purple. She felt the sunglasses covering over her concealed eyes. The sculptress grinned maliciously as she got up once more and felt the rest of her body.

"It's been a while… since I possessed another life form." Claycia spoke in a demonic voice. "And this body is the best one yet. With this, I can finally regain my lost strength and exact my revenge on… whoever made me lose a part of my memory…" She gritted her teeth with those last words.

* * *

Claycia stared at a remote part of space in silence. She didn't notice the company she was about to receive.

"Claycia!" The fairy flew towards the sculptress happily. "The cottas are all having fun with each other just like you said. We should join in with them too!"

Claycia didn't reply back nor did she turn around to greet the upbeat fairy.

"Uh… Claycia..? Is there something wrong?" Elline flew a bit closer.

"There's… nothing wrong… Elline." Claycia stuttered. "I'm in just… in need of more rest…"

"Hmm… okay. I'll come back here later then..." Elline said in a confused matter before flying away.

Once the sculptress made sure that the fairy is gone, she raised her arms and fired a ball of clay towards a section in space. It then grew to a large size within seconds. Finally, she fired a purple beam onto what would become the Purple Fortress.

"This time, I will rule without any interference!" Claycia announced to herself.

Behind a small asteroid out in the distance, Elline watched the whole thing unfold in front of her eyes.

"Cl-cl-claycia…?" she stuttered.

* * *

The trio walked uphill on a trail. Streams of lava flowed down the hill on both sides of them. The temperature has also increased drastically.

"Man… it's so hot…" Bandana Dee moaned and wiped the sweat off his face.

"Poyo…" Kirby agreed.

"This heat is very strange…" Elline said. "It was never this warm the last time I was here."

"Then you think Claycia did something to this world?"

"Probably…" Elline mumbled sadly.

"Then we have no time to lose. Let's keep going." Bandana Dee said.

"Yes, that's what… I… would…" Elline suddenly looked towards the sky as if she was searching for something.

"Poyo?"

"What are you looking at? There's nobody here but us... right?" Bandana Dee gulped.

Elline didn't say anything right away. She continued to observe the area as if they were being watched. She shook her head a few moments later and turned towards the group.

"Sorry… it's nothing." The fairy said as she flew up the hill. Kirby and Bandana Dee both shrugged then followed her.

Unknown to the trio, a mysterious cloaked figure watched them from the shadows. Then, the figure teleported away before the trio reached the top of the hill.

At the top, the trio stood before several lava rivers blocking their path. Elline began drawing a rainbow path over each one. Kirby and Bandana Dee walked over it carefully in fear of falling off.

It didn't help that fireballs were launched towards the trio from out of nowhere. They turned to their side and discovered hotheads sitting on isolated rocks, shooting fireballs at them.

"Hey! Playing with fire is dangerous!" Bandana Dee yelled.

"Not for them! Keep moving." Elline said.

Now they had to quicken their pace while simultaneously dodging attacks. They were just about to cross the last river until…

"Yoowch!" Bandana Dee jumped up and screamed in pain. One fireball caught his foot and he lost his balance because of that.

"Poyo!" Kirby caught his other foot before he fell into the lava and dragged him on the rope as it was fading away. The trio took the liberty to catch a breather after making it across.

"That was a close one." The waddle dee sighed with relief. "Thanks a lot, buddy."

"Poyo!" Kirby nodded happily.

"Are you two alright?" Elline asked worriedly.

"Never better."

"Poyo!"

"That's a relief." She beamed. "Let's keep going."

The rest of the walk wasn't much of an ordeal compared to what they just went through. The trio walked alongside a large lava river that connects to the previous several smaller ones. After climbing a sizable wall with Elline's help, the trio now traversed through a rocky, plain bridge hanging over a large lava lake. The large volcano was now in their sights.

"So…" Bandana Dee began. "Has anyone noticed that our adventure is almost over?"

"Yes... I have…" Elline said sadly.

"Poyo…"

The trio remained silent for a few moments before Bandana Dee spoke up again.

"I've had a lot of fun. It's not every day where I get to help Kirby on another one of his quests."

"I've had fun as well even though I'm probably the one holding you guys back." Elline said. Kirby and Bandana Dee glanced at her in shock after what she just said.

"Whaaaaa!? We couldn't have made it here without your rainbow rope guiding us!"

"Poyo!" Kirby pointed at himself.

"And your transformations…" Bandana Dee added which caused her to giggle lightly.

"And I couldn't have made it here without you two clearing away all the scary monsters." She said with a slight smirk.

"Poyo!" Kirby said with a heroic smile.

"Well, those monsters we've encountered are no match for us, that's for sure." He laughed.

Elline giggled at their pride. One of these days, she'll draw them fighting a ton of monsters with ease. As much as she loves looking over her drawings from time to time, Elline prefers to see familiar faces from out of the art book.

"Hey… I have a question if you don't mind…" Elline asked nervously.

"Go ahead."

"Poyo."

"Once we save Claycia, can you guys would come back and visit?" Elline looked down nervously and played with her thumbs.

"Of course! Right Kirby?" Bandana Dee beamed without hesitation.

"Poyo!" he nodded happily.

"Really!?" She looked back up at their smiling faces. They both nodded at her simultaneously.

"That… makes me so happy." Elline widened her eyes. "I don't ever want to forget you guys for as long as I live."

"In fact, you're always welcome to visit our planet whenever you want." Bandana Dee grinned.

"Okay then…" Elline smiled. "How about we promise NOT to forget our promises we made…"

The trio gathered in a circle and formed a hand-stack.

"To a long and lasting friendship!" Elline announced.

"To a long and lasting friendship!" Bandana Dee followed.

"Poyo… friend... ship!" Kirby finished.

They raised their hands into the air with smiles on their face.

* * *

Later, the trio stood in front of the massive volcano. There appeared to be one entrance in and out. However, it was blocked by something strange.

A mysterious, gray aura with a shade of darkness covered the entrance. The aura flickers like static from time to time. The trio investigated the aura but they didn't get too close.

"Before you ask guys, I have no idea what this is or could be." Elline said, addressing the confused looks of the other two.

"Can't you paint over this?" Bandana Dee asked.

"I… don't think so. I can't paint over air…" She replied.

"Hmm…" Bandana Dee crossed his arms in thought. He then stepped closer to the aura and moved his hand inside it. Kirby and Elline watched him with interest to see if any effect will occur.

Sure enough, something did happen.

"My… my hand is starting to hurt." Bandana Dee's hand began to lose its natural color at a rapid rate. This surprised Elline and Kirby.

"Get your hand out of there!" She yelled.

"I… can't… move it…" he moaned in pain.

Kirby rolled over to him and pulled him out, albeit struggled to do so. Bandana Dee's hand already lost nearly all of its natural hue. The waddle dee could barely move it without wincing in pain.

"Lemme repaint that for you." She brushed over the spot with her hair and the color returned to it.

Bandana Dee gave a relaxed sigh. "That feels so much better, thanks."

"Don't mention it." Elline smiled. "But it looks like we can't go this way."

"Poyo!" Kirby pointed at a different route that loops around the mountain.

"All right, we'll go that way then and see if there's another entrance inside." Bandana Dee said.

The trio walked alongside the mountain. They noticed that there were very few pieces of land in the huge lava lake that surrounded the volcano other than the areas they just traversed through.

A few minutes have passed by and the scenery hasn't changed much other than the slight shift in dark clouds. Bandana Dee stopped in place and glanced around. "We're not going to go anywhere like this."

Elline turned around to reply to him. Before words could come out of her mouth, her eyes widened with horror and she backed up slowly.

"What? Am I really that scary?" Bandana Dee asked with a hint of nervousness.

"No! B-b-behind you!" she stuttered.

Bandana Dee and Kirby turned and around and gasped at what they saw.

A large purple airship was stealthily flying behind them. The ship's condition suggested that it's worn down heavily and many exterior parts were scraped off. The biggest change is the main head of the ship having an eyepatch over its left eye.

"Bastron!?" The trio yelled simultaneously.

The battleship realized that it has been spotted so it pointed its mini cannons at them.

"Ruunn!" Elline yelled as she flew away. Bastron began firing bombs at them.

The trio dodged each of the blasts. Bastron began pursuing them relentlessly. It won't be long until the battleship catches up.

"How on earth did Claycia repair that thing so quickly!?" Bandana Dee yelled.

"That's what I would like to know!" Elline said as she drew a rainbow rope over a gap. Bastron destroyed the rope with its cannons just as they all got across.

Unfortunately for them, the road ended there. The rest of the path requires a swim in lava. Bastron stopped firing its mini cannons and pointed its main cannon at the helpless trio.

Bandana Dee gulped. "We're stuck between a rock and a hard place."

"I don't want it to end like this…" Elline shivered. "Kirby, help me!"

"Poyo?" Kirby tilted his head in confusion. He turned to his side and saw a small cavern entrance that seemingly led inside the volcano. Elline followed his gaze and she brightened up.

"Good eye, Kirby!" Elline beamed.

They all ran inside just as Bastron fired from its main cannon. The blast caused a rock slide on the entrance and caved them in as well as blocked the outside light.

Elline immediately powered on a flashlight and scanned the area with it. She sighed in relief when everyone was alright.

"Where did you get that flashlight?" Bandana Dee raised his eyebrow in question.

"Oh, um, Mimosa let me have it." She shrugged. "And that's perfect for me because I don't like the dark."

"She was so stingy with those things. I couldn't walk five feet away without her asking me where I'm going… along with other things that happened." Bandana Dee shivered while recapping over the events. "Yet, she lets you keep that!?"

Elline shrugged again. "You'll have to ask her if we ever get out of here."

"Then let's start looking around then. And by 'let's' I mean you." Bandana Dee smirked.

Elline rolled her eyes in response and pointed her flashlight in different directions. She eventually found a small hole in the ceiling.

"Hold on to my flashlight, Bandana Dee." Elline said. The waddle dee nodded and received the material.

Elline then drew a rope upward into the hole with the other two climbing it. Once they made it to the top, Bandana Dee flashed around the area and found…

"Would you look at that, it's a canvas stand" Bandana Dee pointed with the flashlight. "I'm guessing Kirby Rocket will get the job done."

"Righto!" She beamed. "Now please keep that flashlight steady."

Elline drew the portrait of a rocket on the canvas then transferred it over Kirby. The little puffball is now three times his size once again. He opened up the cockpit hanger on the area where his stomach would be. Elline and Bandana Dee both entered and sat down on the seats.

Kirby then blasted through the rock wall in the direction they entered from and flew towards the battleship. Bastron's head turned towards the rocket ship but it didn't fire a single shot at him much to the trio's surprise. Kirby entered into the rear of the ship for hopefully the last time.

Kirby zoomed through the corridors at nearly full speed. It was strangely empty for the most part but he kept his guard up. Eventually, he heard clanking metal noises from around a corner and he slowed down.

As he turned the corner, he discovered giant metal saws all over the hallway. Some moved inward and outward. They seem to do nothing other than serve as obstacles. The rocket navigated through the metal saws at his usual speed without trouble.

"It seems to be a lot easier to move through these gears." Bandana Dee said.

A loud noise was heard soon after he said that. Then the trio heard the sound of metal containers piling up. They turned to the source which was behind them and became horrified. A giant hardened clay fist covered in a purple aura closing in on them.

Elline and Bandana Dee were almost thrown off their seats when Kirby took off. The fist destroyed each obstacle Kirby passed and it almost reached him just as he turned a corner. The rocket zoomed off at full speed through the empty corridor but the fist followed him.

As he flew, he saw three light switches that he has seen countless times before. Once he activated the three of them, he heard a door open somewhere ahead. The clay fist was closing in on them.

"That thing is getting way too close!" Bandana Dee warned.

On cue, Kirby glowed in a blue aura for a moment before blasting off, now outrunning the incoming trap. Doors ahead of him were also starting to close but he managed to make it through each one of them.

Only for the said doors to be destroyed by the incoming clay fist, now matching the speed of Kirby Rocket.

"Geez, what's with that thing!? It's literally just stalking us!" Elline pouted.

Up ahead, Kirby could see a large entrance that was probably opened from the light switches earlier. He managed to enter the room just as it closed once again. The fist slammed into the closed door which made them all sigh with relief.

"That was way too close…" Elline said.

"Too close…" Bandana Dee agreed. "But where are we now? This room is pretty dark…"

"It is… but…" Elline looked around timidly. "I don't think we're alone…"

"What makes you say that Elline?"

"You've made it…" a voice echoed from within the room. The trio widened their eyes in suspense especially Elline.

"No way... it can't be…" she stuttered.

All of the lights turned on, revealing the other being inside the room. Elline was the first one to recognize who the figure was, much to her own dismay.

"Cl-cl-claycia, is that you!?" Elline yelled in surprised as she jumped out of the cockpit to get a better view.

In truth, it was her. The very same being that apparently had a behavior change, drained Popstar's color and unleashed her clay monsters all over Seventopia. Now she reunites with Elline for the first time since then as well as meeting Kirby and Bandana Dee face to face. The sculptress didn't respond or even acknowledged Elline's presence. Her attention was all on what made the fairy become more of a nuisance.

"Ahhh, so you are the pink pest... named Kirby." Claycia said in a somewhat amused state.

"Poyo!" Kirby readied himself for a fight but Claycia laughed menacingly.

"Don't be so hasty, you pest. I won't fight you... yet."

"Claycia..." Elline mumbled while trying to hold back her tears. "Please, snap out of it…"

"Why did you steal our planet's color!?" Bandana Dee yelled as he equipped his spear ready.

"I'm impressed that you three had to willpower to traverse this volcano that I made for a select few." She then turned her attention to Elline. "Regardless, I was going to catch you and force you to help me with something... but that is no longer the case."

The trio didn't reply to her. Claycia smirked and turned to her side, facing the wall.

"The appearance of this pink pest that you adore so much and something I'm currently developing and testing has made you completely useless to me."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Bandana Dee asked. Claycia turned back towards them. Her smirk had vanished and anger is what's left on her face.

"I believe that I've overstayed my personal welcome to you annoying pests. As a result, I'll leave you with a gift… an explosion from my ship with all three of you inside!" Claycia pulled out a red button from the inside of her purple robes and pressed it. The alarms all over the place went off and the timer showed a 1 minute and 30 second countdown that's subject to start.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Bandana Dee yelled. The sculptress ignored him again.

"Goodbye, pests!" Claycia laughed as she prepared to teleport away.

Kirby charged in with his super dash only for it to be deflected by an invisible colorless shield.

"Nice try, pest!" Claycia laughed before she teleported away. The countdown began the instant she vanished.

"Claycia... why..." Elline hung her head in shame while dropping a tear.

"Poyo…" Kirby said sadly.

"Elline... we will help her soon. I promise you on that." Bandana Dee encouraged.

"Poyo..."

"But now, we have to get out or we can't help her."

"Okay..." she sniffed. "Kirby, follow this map on the wall and we should be able to escape. I think there are more traps ahead of you but… you can do it."

"Poyo!" Kirby said with a heroic smile.

The time was at 1 minute and 20 seconds. Elline flew back into the cockpit and Kirby took off ahead at full speed.

There were three paths up ahead. Two were on the right and left walls and the last was the giant door blocking their escape. Kirby made a right into the narrow room, forcing him to slow down. He moved through the corridor and discovered one light switch and activated it which opened a concealed door by it and led him back to the main hallway. The timer was at 1 minute and 5 seconds.

Kirby went straight ahead into the other room which was a large area separated by layers of walls. Several security shotzos pointed at him the moment he arrived. Kirby dodged their shots and activated the light switch in front of him.

"Kirby, there's a switch on your left!" Elline said.

Sure enough, there was a lone switch at the corner of the room that he definitely would have missed. The timer was now at 45 seconds as he searches for the last one.

"There's another one on your right." Bandana Dee said.

Like before, the last switch is located at another remote corner. The only difference is that it's guarded with shotzos. The rocket dodged the shots and activated the final switch which opened up the door in the main hallway. There is now 30 seconds left on the clock.

Kirby u-turned back to the hallway and entered the door. As the timer continued to tick down, the walls were beginning to close in on them with the exit in sight.

Knowing he wouldn't make it at his current speed, he glowed in a blue aura and charged straight for the exit. He managed to make it out the backside of the ship just before he was about to get crushed by the walls at the 5 second mark.

Kirby flew towards the volcano entrance just as Bastron exploded. The fiery blast was quickly catching up to him. However, the gray aura that shrouded the entrance has faded away.

He took the opportunity to fly inside right before the blast was about to reach him…

 **Hmm… how will this world conclude? What will happen next? Only time will tell…**

 **And this chapter marks the first appearance of the Colorless Zone; from being an annoying mechanic in the game to something completely dangerous.**

 **Also, working on this chapter used a lot of my free time. Call it a make up for the 3 month update gap. If anything, I gotta try and see if I could get these out monthly... although the upcoming chapters may make that possible...**


	15. From Incompetent to Competent

**Just a reminder, I've been using my profile to tell you readers about the progress of upcoming chapters. I encourage you all to check it out from time to time to see how close a chapter is to finishing. Each time a rough draft is finished, I'll add a sneak peek of it so you can all get the general idea of what that chapter will be about. Anyways, read and be surprised.**

 **I'm still waiting for Fanfiction to add an option for Elline, Claycia and some other characters in the Kirby series list…**

Chapter 15: From Incompetent to Competent

Claycia witnessed Bastron's second explosion and Kirby's triumphant escape from a high place in Red Volcano. Not too long later, the Grab Hands appeared before her as she stared into the distance. Before they had a chance to speak, Claycia reported the events that transpired.

"Kirby surpassed my expectations by surviving Bastron's onslaught and escaping its explosion. The blast caused this volcano's instability to rise… but it won't erupt any time soon."

The Grab Hands were shocked at the turn of events. But what surprised them even more is that Claycia didn't seem to be angry at all, based on her tone. In fact, she seemed somewhat pleased.

"Now I see why he's been a problem to you two since that fairy repainted him on Popstar..." She crossed her arms while continuing to stare into the distance.

Sensing a demand for progress from the sculptress, the Grab Hands decided to report their progress to the sculptress after a moment of silence.

"Claycia… we have… done… what you requested…" the hands said.

"Are they all in Purple Fortress at the moment?" she asked.

"Yes… many of them… are in the barracks…" the left said. "And… a very small portion… will have… other responsibilities…"

Claycia laughed in an evil manner. "Good… you two are finally starting to become competent-"

"But…" the hands interrupted causing her to sigh immensely.

"One escaped somehow…" the right started.

"We… don't know… how we lost it…" the left finished. "But… we'll find him…"

"That doesn't matter." She snarled while facing them almost instantly. "One pawn can't do anything on its own, especially when our plan is already in motion..."

* * *

Kirby was losing control of his own flight. He collided onto the walls of the volcanic tunnel before eventually crashing facedown onto the ground. Elline and Bandana Dee were both flung out of the cockpit and fell onto the ground in a less violent manner before Kirby returned to normal.

"Claycia hasn't changed!" Elline said as she dusted off the debris on herself, somehow unscathed from the crash. "She's just gotten worse!"

"Just what is she developing?" Bandana questioned as he stood up, also unharmed from the crash.

"She doesn't need me for whatever she's doing… but why Kirby? He doesn't seem to have any sort of color powers…"

"Argh… it's just so confusing…!" Bandana Dee removed his bandana to dust off debris.

Kirby lifted his face from the ground and shook his head. He looked ahead on the path and noticed small footsteps on the ground.

"It is confusing but… what CAN we do…" she sighed sadly.

"We'll stop her, that's what." Bandana Dee said.

"Poyo!" Kirby agreed as he rolled besides the waddle dee.

"But… but I don't want to fight her. Elline cried. "No… I can't fight her…!"

"You... can't?" Bandana Dee replied. Elline slowly shook her head in response.

"I… I just don't know if I have the courage to confront her. I've been scared of her ever since she's changed." She sniffed. "We all saw it; she wouldn't listen to a thing we would say to her!"

Kirby and Bandana Dee looked at each other, knowing this was true.

"I've been thinking about this since the start of our adventure. What if… we'll never restore her to normal? What if… I'll never become friends with her ever again?" Elline broke down into tears.

Kirby frowned at seeing her cry again. Seeing someone unhappy makes him unhappy as well. He walked forward and held her hand while giving her a comforting smile.

"Kirby… you…" she blushed.

"I think he's tired of seeing you cry a lot Elline…" Bandana Dee assumed.

"Poyo!" Kirby nodded happily.

Elline looked towards the waddle dee then at Kirby who was till beaming at her. Her admiration for the puffball soared. "I'm sorry… I can't help it." She wiped her tears away. "From now on, no more little miss crybaby."

"Poyo..." Kirby dropped a sweat at her statement.

"Anyways…" Bandana Dee spoke up. "Claycia stole our planet's color right. Does that mean that she also wants to steal color from other planets in the galaxy and possibly beyond?"

Elline froze in place the moment he said that. For a while, no one spoke which made the waddle dee nervous.

"D-d-did I say something?"

"We can't let that happen!" she yelled abruptly which caught the other two off guard. "I may be scared but… we can't let the beautiful color of all other planets fall to waste."

"A-a-a-nd besides…" Bandana Dee added while clearing his throat. "We have to get this story back on pace. skyguys says that we've lingered around here for too long. _Even though he's making us do that just like the infrequent updates…_ "

"What?"

"Poyo?"

"F-forget what I said." he mumbled. "Let's just move on through this volcano!"

Kirby and Elline looked at each other in confusion before they all settled off through the volcano.

The volcanic path they were on was thankfully void of lava. It was a simple straight path up to an intersection that led into the upper parts of the volcano.

"Which way do we go? Both paths seem to be the same." Bandana Dee asked.

"I say we go right." Elline said. "Last time, we went left."

"As long as it helps us get out of here faster." Bandana Dee shrugged.

The trio went into the right passage and encountered a scalable wall. Before they could began climbing, they felt the volcano rumble at their feet. The rumble was strong enough to cause rocks from the ceiling to fall. Elline shielded them with her rope and they witnessed the entrance being caved in by the rock slide.

"It looks like we can't go back that way." Elline said. "But least we're all okay."

"Poyo..." Kirby mumbled.

"There probably isn't a need to go back." Bandana Dee said in which Elline nodded in agreement.

Elline guided Kirby and Bandana Dee upwards. Once they reached the top, they began moving through the next passage which consists of rocky bridge with lava beneath them and on the walls. They quickly ran through the place hoping to cross before some sort of deadly event occurs. Thankfully, the lava below them was calm.

After crossing the bridge, they reached another scalable wall that went much further upward then the previous one. As Elline prepared to draw another line of rope, the volcano rumbled yet again.

The trio braced themselves for rocks to fall upon their heads. This time, however, no boulders fell. Instead, they could hear the sound of lava moving close.

"Poyo…" Kirby gulped.

"Don't tell me…" Bandana Dee started.

Their fears were confirmed when they saw the lavafalls spewing out lava vigorously, causing the lava lake to rise quickly. It was already beginning to overflow the bridge.

Kirby and Bandana Dee quickly turned towards Elline... who was already drawing a line of rope upwards.

"M-m-move it, you two!" Elline yelled from above.

They wasted no time climbing the rope upwards. At around halfway to the top, Elline rested in a small cove to regenerate her paint. Kirby looked down and saw that the lava was rising rapidly.

"These are times when I wish I never had a painting limitation…" Elline moaned.

After a few moments, Elline finished the drawing the path. The lava was right on their tail the moment they left the cove. As soon as they reached the top, the trio saw outside light in which they bolted towards.

They were now on a main volcano cliff. The path curves slightly upward alongside the mountain. The lava from before burst out from the cave and travelled down into the giant lava lake of the world.

"We're only... a third of the ways up." Elline said in between breaths. "We should reach the top... soon enough."

"Assuming we don't get charred or crushed by rocks then yeah we should reach the top soon." Bandana Dee sighed.

"I guess that explosion from Bastron made the volcano wacky…" Elline thought.

"Poyo." Kirby agreed.

After a brief rest, the trio walked back on the trail. They eventually reentered through another entrance and climbed a rocky staircase.

The next passage was a simple upward hill with no lava currently present, much to the trio's relief.

"This should be easy enough…" Bandana Dee spoke out loud.

Another rumble occurred through the volcano. This rumble was slightly fiercer than the previous ones.

"You spoke way too soon…" Elline face palmed.

As the volcano was still rumbling, Kirby looked up and noticed that the ceiling was starting to break apart. One rock broke off and was falling towards…

"Poyo!" He shouted as he jumped towards Elline to move her out of the way.

The rock crashed a second later. Elline opened her eyes back to the spot she was flying on and was thankful that there was someone to protect her. She looked ahead and saw Kirby and Bandana Dee already moving forward, dodging more falling rocks. She sighed in disappointment before getting up and flying after them.

Elline drew a rainbow rope over them as a shield from the falling rocks as they ran.

They exited the passage just as the boulders cover up the exit, preventing them from turning back if they wanted to. The rest of the path spirals upwards alongside the volcano. Beneath the trio lies boiling lava that is appearing to be very unstable.

"Look up there!" Elline pointed. There is a passageway at the very top of the volcano interior. "That should lead to the summit. Let's go, you guys."

"Aye, aye captain." Bandana Dee saluted sarcastically.

"That's 'Miss' to you, sir." She smirked.

"I thought you didn't like being called that?" Bandana Dee grinned.

"Umm… yeah but…"

And on cue, another volcanic rumble occurred before she could finish her response.

"This is getting really old, really fast." Elline said to change the subject.

The trio heard the sound of lava flowing upwards. They looked down simultaneously and discovered that the lava was rising.

They looked at each other momentarily before running on the path. More rocks fell from the ceiling as the volcano continues to rumble.

Eventually, the quake became strong enough to cause a very large part of the path ahead to fall off. The newly formed gap was too large for Elline to draw rainbow rope across.

"Oh no..." she said with horror.

"What do we do now?" Bandana Dee said.

Kirby looked around the area, trying to see if anything can help them. Time was running out.

Unknown to the trio, an object was falling directly overhead the puffball. Kirby could only catch a glimpse of it as he looked up and saw a familiar item land on top of him.

He was "swallowed" by the material as it positioned itself to be pointing over the uncrossable gap. Elline and Bandana Dee stood there in shock due to the luck of the situation and the fact that Kirby was "eaten".

"I-is that a cannon!?" Elline said in surprise. "...that was right above us!?"

"Perfect timing too. Like I said before, it's everyone's best friend!" Bandana Dee hopped in eagerly.

"More like everyone's worse nightmare…" Elline muttered. "But I'll rather stuff my face in there then getting burned by this volcano."

Once the pair shoved themselves in, the cannon blasted them over the gap and onto the high platform. They were almost at the top. However, the platform they were on was staggering, suggesting that it is falling apart. This prompted them to move forward immediately. The lava is rising quickly and the previous rocky formation they were on was already swallowed by the lava.

Eventually, they reached another gap. This time, the exit was right in their sights as well as another cannon casually pointing at it.

Bandana Dee hopped in without a word who was then followed by Kirby. Elline sighed in defeat and entered as well. They were soon blasted to the exit which was covered up by a huge pile of rocks the moment they passed through.

"That was so scary." Elline shivered. "I never want to go through something like that ever again."

"Hopefully, there's no need to." Bandana Dee said.

"Poyo."

The trio stood up and moved ahead on the path. Up ahead, there is a rocky staircase with some light shining down from it, signaling how close they were to the summit.

As they walked up the stairs, Bandana Dee silently thought about their adventure through Red Volcano. He then wondered about anything else that they needed to do.

"Hang on a second." Bandana Dee said out loud which halted the other two. "Aren't we forgetting something?"

Kirby and Elline both thought in silence for a moment.

"Hmm, nothing comes to mind." Elline said soon after.

"Poyo." Kirby shook his head.

Bandana Dee shrugged. "It's probably just me then."

The trio walked up the last staircase and appeared at the summit. The area is wide and flat like an arena. The biggest surprise to them is the fact that the rainbow bridge was already recreated for them. They couldn't see where it leads to due to the clouds obscuring the way but they all knew what world is next.

"Is… is that it?" Bandana Dee questioned. "No giant monster we have to fight or any other shenanigans. This bridge is all that's left?"

"Poyo…" Kirby grumbled in suspicion.

The trio looked around the area cautiously while walking towards the rainbow bridge. Nothing was showing up despite all the volcanic activity suggesting that a larger presence was at work. Before they could step onto the bridge, Elline stopped in place and looked up at the cloudy sky.

"I… I know this feeling …" Elline said which caught the other's attentions. "There's someone else here…"

A loud laugh was immediately heard, confirming Elline's suspicions. The trio recognized the voice of the laughter and remained on guard. After a moment of silence, they saw Claycia levitating down the rainbow bridge with a smirk. The trio took the opportunity to back away to a safe distance.

"Well, well. I must say that I'm impressed." Claycia said as she approached the ground. "Not only that you three were able to survive through my ship a second time but you survived that little obstacle course which is that of the main volcano itself."

Kirby and Bandana Dee remained in their battle ready stances. Elline was also silent but she watched her sadly.

"In addition to that, you all were able to traverse through six of my worlds to make it here, and that's an impressive feat, to say the least." She added. "However, our little game of 'cat and mouse' is over now." She snapped her fingers.

"That's… our cue… right?"

"Yes… you fool. Go…!"

The Grab Hands appeared from behind her out of seemingly nowhere. A small army of tan cottas, bronto burts and bombzaways climbed into the summit and proceeded to surround the trio.

"Now Kirby…" Claycia's voice lost all sense of genuine and gained a tone of anger. "I'll give you one more chance. How about you come quietly and the rest of you will be free to go."

Elline's eyes widened in horror. Claycia just couldn't take him away especially after everything that Kirby has done for her.

"Poyo!" Kirby refused immediately.

"You think we're going to let you take Kirby!? Not on our chance!" Bandana Dee yelled as he pointed his spear at the sculptress.

Claycia sighed in anger. "I expected no less from you, pest. I did warn you after all…" The sculptress positioned her hands skyward. Then she moved them in a circle. As she was doing this, both of her hands were changing color to dark gray. Afterwards, she fired a continuous gray beam upwards. Finally, a gray aura surrounded the entire area, blocking off the path down the mountain and to the rainbow bridge.

"This is just like that weird gray aura that was at the entrance of the volcano!" Elline said in realization.

"Indeed, my fairy pest. This Colorless Zone shall ensure that you all cannot escape until I will complete my objective." Claycia gestured to the Grab Hands. "You two, after them."

The Grab hands nodded before lunging after Kirby at a fast speed. In an instant, he dodged their strikes and rolled towards the group of cottas standing before him, ready for battle.

Unfortunately for them, those cottas were unable to put up much of a fight. Each of them was tackled down by his rolling dash. Behind Kirby, however, the flying pair of bronto burts seized the opportunity to charge after him rather quickly. Bandana Dee jumped into the action and attacked each one of them before they got close to Kirby.

As the pair was fighting the group of grounded and airborne enemies, the bombzaways held remote bombs and positioned themsleves over the occupied duo. Elline took the opportunity to draw a rainbow rope over their heads to shield them just as the enemies dropped the bombs. They exploded onto the rainbow shield and destroyed it. The bombzaways retreated to restock their supply while Kirby and Bandana Dee were finishing the horde of cottas and bronto burts.

"Kirby! Look out!" Elline warned aganist the impeding attack.

The Grab Hands attacked Kirby yet again but he dodged their lunge successfully. He turned and faced them, determined to defeat them once and for all.

"This will… be our… final fight…!" the left hand yelled before clenching itself into a fist and tried to smash him.

Kirby jumped out of the way of its fistful barrages. Little did he know, the right hand was swooping from the side in with its palm wide open in order to catch the puffball. Thankfully, Bandana Dee jumped to his side and stabbed the palm (but not the eye) causing it to back away in pain.

While they were fighting, Elline flew over to Claycia who was reading a book that's very similar looking to Elline's diary. She was too focused on reading notice her former friend besides her.

"Claycia…" Elline mumbled. In surprise, the sculptress looked up to see the fairy. "You…"

"What do you want pest? You should be spending your last moments with your little friend there." She pointed at the heroic duo who were barely keeping a stalemate with the Grab Hands.

"K-K-Kirby will beat those hands for good!" she muttered timidly.

"Ooh, you have some faith in your friend." Claycia smirked. "But not in yourself. You were always a weak and petty little thing."

"D-d-don't call me weak…" Elline stuttered.

"But you are weak." she said in an evil manner while closing her book. "You could never do anything of great importance on your own. Always having to run off and find help from others so they can do your dirty work. You might as well have that pink pest speak in your place, since you don't even have the audacity to look up."

"Um… I…"

"What good is your art to breathe life if I'm the one to create those colorless blobs and breathe life into them myself?"

"Wait... what…?" Elline looked up but Claycia continued.

"I don't need you anymore. I don't need a weakling to do something I can do much better and faster."

Elline couldn't handle the teasing and harassing from someone she still considers her friend. She clenched her fists and stared directly at Claycia who was amused at her serious behavior.

"I... repainted my friends back to life." Elline said confidently. "I'm stronger than you think…"

The sculptress raised an eyebrow at her but remained silent.

"Claycia, you once told me that each picture drawn always has a hidden meaning behind it. You've always told me to draw to my best ability ever since… some time ago. You can't call my art useless if it makes so many others… happy."

Elline didn't see it but Claycia's eyes widened beneath her sunglasses. She then slowly moved both of her hands to her head and cowered in pain.

"Claycia!? What's wrong!?" Elline flew closer to the sculptress who fell to her knees. She placed a hand on Claycia's back as she shook in pain.

"Argghh... ugghh... El...line..." she barely managed to stutter.

"Claycia... I'm here..."

"...he...lp..." Claycia's body began glowing in a dark purple aura. Elline backed away fearfully as the sculptress began to laugh almost in a maniacal way.

She stood up from the ground, completely enshrouded in purple aura and glared at the horrified Elline. "I enjoyed our little talk, my fairy pest." the sculptress voice sounded demonic. "But it's time I was rid of you for good." she rose her left hand and charged a purple energy sphere.

"Claycia, no! You're not like this! Please come to your senses!" Elline pleaded on deaf ears.

"Enough! Get out of my sight!" She fired the sphere at her in point blank range. In a flash, Elline was far knocked back onto the ground and became motionless.

This event did not go unnoticed. Kirby and Bandana Dee stood there in complete shock and the Grab Hands lightly chuckled. Claycia turned her attention on the duo.

"Poyo…!" Kirby glared daggers at the sculptress.

"How could you do that to your own friend!?" Bandana Dee yelled in anger.

"Friend?" Claycia muttered. "There are no friends. Friends are a poison to me and I dread it so much that I will wipe out the thought of it in due time." The scuptress's voice returned to normal and the purple aura surrounding her dwindled. "Now finish the other insignificant pest and capture Kirby, my faithful servants.

"Yes… master…" the hands said in a surprisingly formal tone.

To make matters worse, the bombzaways flew back through the Colorless zone with more remote bombs to drop on them. Without Elline to shield them, they were sitting ducks.

The creatures positioned themselves over the duo. Before they could unleash a barrage…

"Spear Copter!" Bandana Dee positioned his spear above him and twirled it at insane speeds, lifting himself from the ground. The bombs all hit the rotating spear and left no sort of scratches on it.

Then Bandana Dee picked up Kirby and tossed him towards the bombzaways in which the puffball jumped on each of them in the air as a way of attacking. He continued this until they were all defeated. The only ones left were Claycia and her Grab Hands.

Kirby turned his attention to Claycia and performed a rolling dash at her. She blocked it with ease with a colorless shield that was probably created in mere milliseconds.

"I figured you would try that." Claycia said without interest. "Somebody does have a lot of faith in you after all…"

Kirby continued attacking her shield while ignoring the statement. The shield took a beating for a good while. Claycia noticed the amount of anger in Kirby's eyes as he attacked. But she didn't dwell into it because her colorless shield was cracking like glass.

"Hmph." Claycia backed up quickly and raised her palm. She charged a purple energy sphere and fired it at Kirby. The attack hit him dead on but he stood firm and strong. Amused, Claycia continued her purple sphere onslaught while Kirby began dodging each one.

Meanwhile, Bandana Dee was dealing with the Grab Hands. After all their encounters with the waddle dee, they knew how vulnerable they were to his spear…

The waddle dee used multiple spear thrusts at the hands, forcing them to back up... or were they being forced to back up?

The left hand was analyzing his movements as he attacked. As proficient Bandana Dee is with his spear, there are a few places where his guard is wide open...

The left hand suddenly went for a side-ways hand chop on his side because there is no spear there. The attack knocked him to the side a little bit as well as unbalanced his stance. The right hand followed up with a heavy punch attack to knock him back. Bandana Dee stood up after a few seconds and ran back towards the hands.

The left hand went overhead the waddle dee and positioned itself into a fist to crush him with. Bandana Dee pointed his spear upwards as defense… which was something that the hands were waiting for. The right hand lunged for his spear and knocked it out of his hands.

"My spear!" he yelled as the right hand threw it over the edge of the mountain.

"Poyo!?" Kirby turned towards his waddle dee friend who was standing in shock. He was hit by an energy ball a second later.

"Apprently, the only way for me to hit you is when you aren't looking…" Claycia said as Kirby stood up panting.

"You're… finished… now…" the left hand said menacingly.

"My… my spear…" he moaned sadly, clearly devastated by the attack they did.

The hands took the initiative and punched the waddle dee like a punching bag. Without his spear as a proper defense, his only option was to take the attack. They finished their all-out pummeling with one powerful punch which knocked the waddle dee far back.

When the dust cleared, Bandana Dee was still standing but wobbly. The hands looked at each other and nodded before swiping him in a tight grip.

"Time... to give you… a taste of… your own medicine…" the hands yelled before squeezing him tightly.

"Agghhhhh!" Bandana Dee yelled in pain.

This caught Kirby's attention completely. He turned away from Claycia who was about to throw a spikey ball of clay with eyes and rolled straight towards the helpless waddle dee.

"Interesting…" Claycia mumbled. "As expected, he's the one to hold this little band of fools together."

"I… can't… fight…" the waddle dee stuttered before his vision blurred due to lack of air.

Before the hands could finish off the unconscious waddle dee, Kirby rammed into both hands with a full blown blow. They dropped the waddle dee onto the ground face down and retreated. Kirby tried shaking Bandana Dee awake but to no avail. Like Elline, he was also knocked out.

He is now all alone in a one vs three situation and he was already tired.

"Poyo…" he gulped in slight fear.

The grab hands recovered from the hit and lurked closer to the puffball at the same rate that he was backing up. Kirby eventually stood at the edge of the colorless zone with nowhere to run.

"Admit it. You rely on others to do your dirty work. You are no hero that you and so many others claim to be." Claycia taunted.

Kirby knew that she was trying to get into his head. It worked on Elline. He dashed towards the right hand but it avoided the attack.

"Not hungry… aren't you…" the left hand mocked.

On cue, his stomach rumbles. They haven't eaten anything proper since before they've entered the main volcano. Kirby knew that his hunger would have to wait. He could not fail, especially when all stakes are on him.

He dashed forward towards the left hand. The being prepared to dodge but Kirby anticipated that. He pulled a feint by redirecting his rolling dash to the right hand right behind the left hand who wasn't ready for the impact. The right hand was knocked down to the ground and Kirby stood on top of the open palm.

Kirby gazed at its stunned eye for a moment. He considered it to be a weak point for both the hands and it's something they never thought of attacking...

He didn't get much time to prepare a finishing blow as the left hand swatted at Kirby like a bee. The puffball jumped out the way at the last second and stood a fair distance back. The right hand floated up from the groundf and glared at Kirby.

"Poyo…" he mumbled. He wasn't going to go anywhere like this.

The Grab hands approached both of his sides and opened their palms wide which confused Kirby for a moment until he realized what they were doing.

They were planning to "clap" him and squeeze him until he faints. The grab hands lunged simultaneously at the puffball. Kirby rolled forward quickly to dodge the attack and he retaliated by striking both hands repeatedly before they were forced to back away.

"Arrgh…." The left hand moaned. "We… can't defeat… him…"

"I want… this to… end…!" the right hand said.

"Enough, you two." Claycia spoke up after silently observing the fight.

She levitated towards the hands which caused them back away fearfully and glanced on at the panting puffball. After a moment, she smirked.

"Tenacious little pest, aren't you?" Claycia snarled. "However, I'm too busy for such games. Time for this to end!"

"Poyo…" Kirby mumbled sadly.

Claycia's right hand began to surge with purple electricity. She swiftly raised it to her side which caused a purple lightning bolt to strike the ground beside her and move towards Kirby. He moved to the side to narrowly dodge the attack. The sculptress kept up the pressure by mimicking the motion with her left hand. Kirby dodged that attack too.

"Still have the fight in you I see. _Just like I remember from a long time ago_ …" Claycia said.

She rose both of her arms up and summoned both pairs of lightning strikes. Both pairs moved at the same time towards the puffball. Kirby dodged it again but it didn't end there, it was following him this time around. He took the initiative by rolling away as fast as he could.

One of the lightning bolts was dangerously approaching him from the front. Kirby quickly swerved away and headed straight for Claycia who was holding out her arms in concentration with the lightning on his tail.

"Oh no... you don't..." The left Grab Hand swatted him back as he got closer to the sculptress, forcing him to take the attack.

"POYOO!" he yelled in pain as the lightning circulated through his body. The attack continued for quite some time. Kirby opened one eyelid and tried to take a step but he couldn't. The very strong force of the lightning attack was too much for his body to bear.

"Heheheh…." The sculptress halted her attack and glanced at the severely injured puffball who fell to his hands, panting heavily.

Claycia looked at his eyes once again. They were still filled with determination… and anger towards her. She thinks that all of those emotions boiling up inside him somehow connect to one certain emotion that she despises the most. "There. I weakened him for you. Finish him off." She addressed coldly to the Grab Hands.

The pair of hands approached Kirby who was barely able to stand on his two red feet. The right hand clenched itself into a fist and aimed directly at the puffball.

Kirby tried to move but he fell onto his hands once again, completely out of energy and very badly injured. The hand landed the finishing blow on him. He was knocked all the way near Elline who was still unconscious.

Kirby opened one of his eyes and glanced over to the fairy with a blurry vision. "I'm… sor…ry…" He muttered before he blacked out.

The left hand swiped the fallen puffball off the ground in a tight grip. Claycia used her magic to dissipate the colorless zone before grinning in her victory.

"Even though you needed my help… well done." Claycia said. "You two have finally become from incompetent to competent."

"What do… we do with… the other two…?" the left hand asked.

"Leave them here." She replied. "If they wake up then I believe that they will realize that they can't win. If they don't wake up then I'm confident that the lava will eventually reach up here. Anyways, it's time for us to go, and continue the objective." The sculptress levitated toward the rainbow bridge.

"But… Claycia…" the right hand started, causing her to stop in place but not turn around.

"Weren't you… after that fairy… initially…?" the left finished.

"I never was." She answered with no emotion. "I just needed her to not repaint Kirby. Besides, I said that I don't need her because of what we have already."

The hands looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Claycia.

"I wanted this pink pest out of the way from the start." She snarled. "But since we have him in our possession, I have other plans with him…"

"Plans…?" they both questioned.

"Remember, the factory is one of our greatest tools. Now go before he wakes up and somehow performs another one of his 'heroic' moments." Claycia ordered.

The hands nodded and travelled on the bridge. Before Claycia could follow, she directed her gaze to Elline. The sculptress then thought about the conversation they had. For some reason what she said caused herself to nearly fall apart. Suddenly, images from the past flowed through her head. Her glasses wiggled a bit as she pulls her hands to her head while moaning in pain.

Claycia quickly dismisses the pain and continued onward with a dark glare.

 **What? Don't look at me like that. It wouldn't be interesting without having the main characters of a story losing a fight. In addition to that, getting captured makes things a lot different... and interesting. Can't have the hero always win I suppose…**

 **Anyways, I'll talk a little bit more about what's coming next on my deviantart so go check it out if you want. I'll have a link to it on my profile as always. Let's just hope that it doesn't take me another 3000 years to upload the next chapter despite promises of reaching goals and other stuff...**


	16. A New Mission

**Thank you guest reviewer for the review last chapter. I promise you that this story should get better in these final chapters. :)**

 **The more I talk, the more I waste your time. Let's get this over with.**

Chapter 16: A New Mission

 _An unknown amount of time has passed…_

Elline slowly opened her eyes and absorbed the blurry surroundings. She noticed that she was no longer on Red Volcano. Everything she glanced at was white and looked fluffy including the material she's laying down on. She blinked a few times to remove the blurriness in her eyes and began to stand up from the bed.

Once she was completely upright on the bed, she began to think about the events that transpired. Elline remembered navigating through the volcano with Kirby and Bandana Dee. She also remembered being on the top of the said volcano where…

"Oh, Miss. You're awake!" A familiar squeaky voice said.

Her head rocketed to the source of the voice. A large pink specimen, a cyan cotta and figure with a royal blue bandana that is the same height as the cyan life form were standing before her.

Elline's head finally snapped to life. "Wait, where are we!? How did we get here!?"

"We're back in the cotta's home cloud." Bandana Dee answered.

"We found you two lying unconscious at the summit of the volcano." Mimosa said. "And thanks to little Cyano, the two of you will feel better in no time."

"It's… the least I can do after all that you guys have done for me." Cyano mention sadly.

Elline wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. Instead, she was looking around the room frantically because she knows something's missing. "Guys... where's Kirby?" Elline mumbled fearfully.

The mere mention of his name made Mimosa and Cyano to look away in apprehensiveness. Bandana Dee scratched his head in nervousness. The silence in the room accompanied by all of them eventually turning towards her in shame made Elline completely uncomfortable.

"Wh-why is nobody answering!?" Elline yelled.

"Um… Miss…" Cyano started.

"We didn't see him…" Mimosa added. "You two were the only ones up there."

"That… can't… be…" she teared up. "There's no way he's been—"

"They captured him Elline…" Bandana Dee interrupted although regretting the interruption. "The last time I saw him before blacking out was him running towards me."

"No, no… no!" she screamed, tears filling her eyes rapidly. "That can't be true! There's no way he could be…" The broken down fairy flew out of the room before anyone had a chance to respond.

As Elline flew through the area quickly, she glimpsed at the altered appearance. The entire cloudy hallway was riddled with holes. Each room either reveals the sky or have been torn to shreds. The only area untouched was the room she was just in. Regardless, she flew to the top of the devastated home of the cottas and sat at the edge of it in shame.

"This is all my fault! I'm so weak!" She sobbed.

* * *

It is another peaceful day in Dreamland. Many types of food such as apples, tomatoes, drumsticks, and watermelons are falling from the sky. A certain puffball happily gobbled up each one in sight. Nothing could ever go wrong.

While devouring each and everything in his path, he sees a type of drink land not too far away from him. Curious, he walks over to it to get a closer look. The drink is a rainbow parfait. He's heard from someone that this is the best drink ever. His eyes sparkle in joy as he begans to take a sip of it.

But as he does, he feels like he's inhaling air. The puffball looked back at the cup and saw that it was completely empty. He drops the glass in shock before looking around the area. He realized that all the food around him disappeared and the sky was covered with dark red clouds.

While he was trying to figure out what was going on, a dark blob figure emerged from the ground. The puffball witnessed it in shock as it grew an eye and orange orbs surrounding it's body. He braced himself as the dark figure flew towards him…

"Poyo!" Kirby yelled.

Thankfully, it was only a nightmare. As his breathing returned to normal he glanced around the room he was in.

It looked like a small cell with no windows present. The color of the walls and floor is a mixture of dark purple and gray. The only entrance and exit is the small doorway in front of him that's blocked by a colorless zone. Lastly, there is an air vent above him that's probably sealed.

"Poyo…" Kirby recollected the events that happened not too long ago. He remembered fighting an uneven fight high above a volcano before collapsing. There were times where he would slowly open his eyes and glimpsed the outside area before he was thrown into this cell.

Kirby slowly moved towards the colorless zone and looked out in the hallway. He was still injured from the last fight but he recovered enough strength to move around. His cell was at the bottom of a deep staircase that has a faint light shining down from it.

Kirby sighed sadly and sat in the corner, trying to hold back his tears. He realized that he failed all of his friends, especially Elline who counted on him to save HER friend. Now he's in the position to get rescued but he of course has no idea where everyone else is. If he could find a way out of the cell as well as a way to fill up his empty stomach, he'll be back to tip top shape in no time. But it seems like there isn't any hope for that…

"Poyo…" he dropped a tear.

* * *

"The Grab Hands and those flying carrier insect thingies arrived and took away all my friends." Cyano mumbled sadly. "They swarmed our home really fast and there was no way out."

"But how did you escape?" Bandana Dee asked.

"This room." He answered quickly. Cyano walked over to the bed Elline was sleeping on and moved it at ease (with its body of course), revealing a hidden path down the sky. "I escaped through here and made my way to the Blue Sky Palace."

"So that's what happened…" Bandana Dee said in thought.

"Right and I almost got on the bridge undetected but…"

"The hands saw you?" Bandana Dee assumed.

"Yes." The cotta said. "So they began relentlessly pursuing me into Orange Woodland. It was awful too."

"I can confirm." Mimosa jumped in. "I was minding my own business in the forest then I saw him running off the rainbow bridge as fast as his little legs can carry him. Before I could say anything from the bushes, two purple hands floated down after him."

"Y-you were watching too?" Bandana Dee sweat dropped.

"Of course I was." She smiled. "I had to see where things were going to go."

"Anyways…" Cyano continued. "I… didn't know where to run or hide. I ran into so many bushes and branches and that gave everything away. Just before it was all over for me, Mimosa rescued me."

"That took you long enough to get to me." She grinned. "It's my turn for my side of the story."

"But you… interrupted…" Bandana Dee started.

"So…" Mimosa yelled to get their attention. "Once those hands floated away we were… acquainted with each other."

"Out of all words, you use 'acquainted'?" Bandana Dee scratched his head.

"Quiet you." she answered. " _ahem_... Then we decided to look for you guys too. And that was some adventure we had. Maybe it'll be covered in another chapter…"

 _"_ _I'm supposed to be the one to say stuff like that…"_ Bandana Dee thought.

"We were going to ask you guys to help us rescue his friends. Although, it seems like you guys needed the help more…"

"You're definitely right about that…" Bandana Dee said. "You even found my spear too."

Mimosa grinned. "I could tell it was yours because for one, there were no other spears in that mountain and two, I saw your name on it."

"That spear almost landed on my head." Cyano added quietly.

"Well, it didn't and that's all that matters now right." She winked.

Cyano didn't respond and instead looked towards the door where Elline flew out.

"I wonder how Miss Elline is doing…" he said sadly.

"Devastated…" Bandana Dee said without thought.

"Can you blame her though?" Mimosa dropped her grin, something that she rarely does.

* * *

Elline sobbed on top of the cloud. She had no idea on what to do next. Kirby was taken away and Claycia may never return to normal.

"I'm sorry, Kirby." She said between sobs. "I just held you back this entire time…"

In grief, Elline pulled out her diary and opened to the first page…

 _I made a friend today. His name is Kirby. This guy is called Bandana Waddle Dee. New buddies are the best._

She then turned to the personality pages…

 _Bandana Dee, the adventurous, helpful waddle dee who I call a "spear magician". He's a bit psycho about his "king" and trademark bandana. I need to ask more about the king he's mentioned a few times before. I wonder how long he and Kirby have known each other for. I can already imagine all the adventures they've been through together._

 _Kirby, the happy-go-lucky, gluttonous, sleep-heavy and cute hero of Popstar. I thought it would be hard to understand him but he's so relatable in everything he does! But I do wonder why he also rolls around almost all the time despite him having feet that's made for walking. Bandana Dee told me that he has other powers that he could use but I've only seen a glimpse of it once… I think. Maybe when we return to Dreamland I'll ask more about it…_

She turned a few pages over to her own drawings on Kirby's transformations. She lightly smiled upon seeing Kirby as a boat and airplane.

 _The defeat of Bastron was a roaring success! Kirby proves himself to be stronger than the battleship! But then those scary hands showed up and almost took him away. Thankfully, we had help._

"I wish Cyano and Mimosa came much sooner back on that volcano." Elline said sadly. "It can't be helped though."

She turned to the next page and glanced at a snapshotted picture of herself and Kirby by a canvas stand.

 _Here is where I taught him the basics of painting. He did well... as a beginner._

The canvas stand portrayed the messy drawing of herself and Kirby.

 _Nevertheless, he learns really quickly. Maybe he'll be a better painter then me… ha, as if. Anyways, that time we spent together was a lot of fun. I'm glad Bandana Dee and the cottas weren't snooping around the area near our room… I hope. Then again, before we went to bed, I heard them snickering about something suspicious. Before I get close though, they quieted down in fear._

Elline smiled a bit more after reading the page. She was looking forward to teaching Kirby more about painting. She then turned the page a few times, skipping the Kracko and Goriath entries and pictures and stopped on experiences afterwards.

 _After that exhilarating fight with that giant gorilla... sloth… yeti thing that Bandana Dee calls "Goriath", Mimosa invited us to rest in her home aka her underground burrow. I was surprised by the amount of rooms the place had. There were three guest rooms, a party room and Mimosa's room which probably has a secret room to hold her material._

 _Mimosa brought out our dinner which composed of fruit and mushrooms. Despite Kirby gobbling up a huge chunk of the meal, there were plenty for all of us. The best part is that he made sure that there was enough for all of us before his instincts kicked in. His gluttony always makes me laugh. I love him so much… as a friend… Teehee._

 _Afterwards, we sat in the part room and had some lively conversations. It was getting dark too but Mimosa thankfully had a lot of spare flashlights. She was surprisingly harsh on Bandana Dee and Kirby for some reason but not me. Maybe it's because Claycia and I created her?_

"She was pretty stingy about those things." Elline said. "I think I remember her saying that these flashlights were her prized possessions and she never wanted anyone else to touch them…"

Regardless, Elline continued reading her entries in a much better mood.

 _We stayed in the living room with smiles on all of our faces. I decided to hide in my seat and listen in on the conversations the boys had with the sportle… unless it involved me and Kirby on… certain things…_

"Is… it that noticeable…?" Elline gulped.

 _Afterwards, we all decided to go to bed when Kirby fell asleep first. Mimosa and Bandana Dee went to their rooms but I stayed behind to watch. Kirby looks so cute when he sleeps. I could watch him all night but I need my rest too…_

"Oh, I think I fell asleep with this page open…" Elline gulped. "Hopefully, no one woke up and read this thing. I would die of embarrassment if anyone saw this."

She looked down to the bottom of the page and witnessed a quote that she's repeated to herself through the adventure…

 _When I'm with Kirby, I can do anything._

Those words echoed through her mind…

"Even if he's not here, he's given me a lot of hope. I have to stay positive for him. I have to flash a bright smile just like he always does."

Elline looked towards the sky, in the direction of Purple Fortress. She then smiled confidently before getting up from the cloud and flying back inside. Her first glance of the room was all of them in deep thought for reasons she didn't know.

"Did I miss something guys?" Elline said to catch their attentions.

"No, Miss." Cyano said.

"Yes you have." Mimosa said.

"Umm, what they said." Bandana Dee said.

Elline smiled at them in response. Mimosa and Bandana Dee were taken back by the mood change.

"Is everything alright Elline?" Bandana Dee asked.

"No." she answered truthfully. "But I realized even though something bad may happen, Kirby would always stay positive and hopes that things will turn out okay in the end."

"Even when he's not here, his cute smile affects you like a magnet." Mimosa grinned.

Elline giggled. "I guess you're right about that."

"So our new mission that we all hopefully…" Bandana Dee emphasized the last word. "…decided on is to rescue Kirby from the fortress in addition to bringing back Claycia to her senses."

"Right and what was so difficult about coming to that conclusion." Elline said.

"We don't know what we're up against..." Bandana Dee gulped.

"That shouldn't be a problem then." The fairy replied quickly with hands on her hips.

"Okay then, sounds good to me." Bandana Dee shrugged. "Let's be on our wa—"

" _Ahem,_ before we leave there's one last thing we need to talk about…" Mimosa said. This caused bewildered looks thrown towards her. "You two forgot about this thing that Cyano and I stumbled upon." The sportle rotated 360 degrees very quickly. She suddenly was holding a treasure chest in two of her tentacles.

Bandana Dee and Elline widened their eyes in shock. Perhaps it was a good thing that they didn't move on immediately or else they would have missed that crucial item.

"Grabbing this thing created a wild adventure." Mimosa giggled. "The moment we touched this chest, the lava in the volcano began rising. The weirdest part is when we reached the top, the chest glowed red from the inside which caused the lava to stop before it would overflow to the summit."

"I thought it was Bastron's explosion that caused the lava to rise." Elline said.

"I think that was a factor." Cyano said. "Based on what I saw before and after the explosion, everything was controlled through that one star. That leads me to believe that each shard could be… elemental."

"I never knew you were some sort of a scientist." Bandana Dee nudged him.

"I-i-it's just… my observations…" the cotta said timidly.

Elline opened the chest in Kirby's place. Upon doing so, red light was emitted from within. She reached in and retrieved the Red Star. Like the previous two stars, red coloring lies on the center portion and orange lies on the star's arms and vice versa on the other side.

"So Claycia has the last shard?" Bandana Dee frowned.

"I would say so…" Elline said.

"Miss, what would we do when we get back all four shards?" Cyano asked.

"Popstar can be repainted…" Elline replied. "But I can't do it alone. I need Claycia to help me with that."

"So that's another reason why we have to save her. Maybe your words can get to her."

"At this point, words can't get through her." she looked away sadly. "She ignored everything I had to say to her before blasting me with an energy sphere. It's almost like she's possessed by something…"

"She probably is…" Bandana Dee said.

"Hmm… okay then!" Mimosa blurted out with caught all of their attentions. "Elline, little waddle dee—"

"Don't call me little…" Bandana Dee muttered.

"Tell me what happened up there." Mimosa pointed at the sky. "Yes, up there on that summit."

Elline and Bandana Dee explained their perspective of the fight up to the point where they were unconscious.

"…And the last thing I saw was Kirby running towards me. After that, I guess he was overwhelmed in a three versus one fight…" Bandana Dee finished.

"Okay…" Mimosa put a tentacle to her chin.

"What are you thinking about, Mimi?" Cyano asked.

Mimosa remained silent for a moment before turning towards Elline.

"Was there anything unusual about her?" she asked.

"Well, she glows in a purple aura from time to time; she… once spoke to me with a deep and raspy voice…"

"Okay… go on…" Mimosa continued to take "notes".

"And… she wears purple sunglasses."

"Did she wear them at any time before?" Mimosa looked down at her.

"No…" she said after a moment's thought. "In fact, those glasses shook violently before Claycia fell to her knees."

"Bingo!" Mimosa yelled. "Those glasses are what are affecting her. If we can take them off, she'll be back to normal!"

"It won't be easy considering how there's a large and guarded fortress on our heads now." Bandana Dee said.

"But it's not just about returning Claycia to normal." Elline said. "All those cottas abducted to serve her will need to be freed as well as Kirby too."

"And that's more than enough of a reason to do this." Bandana Dee mumbled with a surprising change of thought.

"Were you suggesting that we don't go through this?" Mimosa snickered at him, causing him to blush in embarrassment.

"It… doesn't seem like that." Cyano said before he had a chance to respond. "If anything, he's just reminding us of the odds we're up against."

"Y-yeah, he's right." Bandana Dee panicked.

"Hmm… good point there, little cotta." Mimosa smiled. Bandana Dee quietly sighed in relief.

"Anyways, that concludes this rescue meeting. What do you say that we depart for the tower of clay right now?" Mimosa asked.

Elline, Bandana Dee and Cyano nodded in which Mimosa beamed.

"Good, because you two have been out for three hours and I didn't want to wait any longer."

"It's only been that long?" Elline asked.

"Yes, Miss." Cyano said. "And we were afraid you wouldn't wake up at all."

"Oh, well, thanks you guys." She said.

"Don't mention it, that's the least we could do." Mimosa said.

"It's going to take a really long time to traverse our steps through the upcoming worlds." Bandana Dee said. "Is there any way for us get back to the road quicker?"

"Yes, there is." Cyano said which caught everyone's attention. "I know a way of getting to the summit quickly. All it took was just one walk through the area. Just follow my lead and we'll be there in no time."

* * *

"Are you sure all systems functioning normally?" Claycia asked.

"Y-yes…" a blue cotta stuttered.

"Then be ready start the machine you fools!" she ordered.

The cottas in the control room began the operation of the large machine out of window in front of them. Claycia looked out of the window and smiled evilly at her accomplishment.

"Keep things normal here. I don't want any trouble… or else." She snarled which earned terrified nods from the six blue cottas in the room.

Claycia departed the control room and assigned a shockcreepa to watch over them. The monster is a tall purple clay specimen with electricity radiating from within.

The Grab Hands waited for her to leave the room before following her on where ever she was going.

"It's a good idea that I spared these blue cottas from mind control. They're the 'smartest' group to maintain the Clayfission machine since they learn surprisingly fast. And if any of them try to act heroic and rebel, then that cotta is going to have a clay helmet placed on their heads."

They entered the main machine room where it was being maintenance by the rest of the green and blue cottas. For every three cottas, there was a shockcreepa watching over them.

The machine is connected by four conveyor belts that lead into the machine. Some of the cottas are tasked by the conveyors for whatever job they had to do. On the main mechanism itself, the rest of the cottas were walking on or around it, checking for any potential problems.

"Is everything in here operational?" Claycia announced.

"Yes…" the cottas said simultaneously although terrified.

"Good, now commence Conveyor Belt A and bring in the pile of clay I have ready." She announced.

The conveyor belt closest to Claycia began moving. Soon after, a large and long pile of gray clay was placed on top of the conveyor belt. The cottas beside it looked confused to what they needed to do.

"Don't just stand there you fools, smooth it out. Get rid of the wrinkles!" She yelled.

The cottas did so without hesitation by using their feet and hands (that morph out of their bodies). In seconds, the clay was smoothed out and it entered the machine.

For a while, the only thing anyone can hear was the sound of clay morphing and splitting apart. Finally, three figures emerged from the back part. The sculptress flew over to them quickly and glanced over the colorless cotta statues.

"Perfect…" she mumbled. "I don't have to waste time creating more minions. Now I can focus on other tasks more suited to my time."

Bombzaways flew down without notice and took the uncolored cottas to a separate room for later.

"All of you lousy cottas make sure that nothing non-clay falls into the splitting bucket. We don't know what will happen to the machine tries to split apart those substances." Claycia announced which made all of them nod including the ones overlooking from the control room. "Now begin the Clayfission machine!"

All the clay life forms began their jobs within the factory. As they did this, Claycia finally turned towards the Grab Hands who remained silent the entire time. "I think our guest may be hungry by now. Make sure that the meal is prepared for him."

"Yes… Claycia…" they said.

* * *

Elsewhere, the band of four just made it up to the summit of Red Volcano. The rainbow bridge remained in place much to their surprise.

"I don't know how you know these secrets but you know them." Bandana Dee said.

"I really wish I've known about those paths while we were travelling." Elline said.

"I thought I knew everything about my home place. Turns out that there's another small place I've yet to explore." Mimosa said.

"I'm usually by myself all the time. So to prevent my own boredom, I just look around." Cyano said. "I think I've gotten better at it."

"Whaddaya mean 'I just look around'?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"No time for that. We need to get going." Mimosa said. "Up the ramp we go."

Cyano followed the sportle on the bridge. Bandana Dee followed the cotta while muttering some thoughts about the cotta. All the remained is Elline who was looking at the sky.

"Hang on Kirby and Claycia." Elline said in a determined fashion. "I'm coming to rescue you!"

 **That was a good and long way to start things off. Next chapter is when our quad squad finally begin their infiltration. Stay tuned for another 3000 year update! (hopefully not)**


	17. Purple Fortress Junkyard

**Wait… ANOTHER UPDATE. I'M STILL ALIVE!? Yadayadayada… This chapter and the next one were really difficult for me to structure out.**

Chapter 17: Purple Fortress Junkyard

The large eerie Purple fortress loomed over the heroes. The structure of the planet is similar to Elline's paintbrush form but the head lacks the rainbow colors. Instead, it cycles between purple, pink and white. The rest of the body is tainted purple and a purple fog enshrouds the entire planet.

The rainbow bridge extended to an empty area far away from the tower, which is surrounded by a fairly large fortress that was hidden in the view from space. In terms of overall size, Purple Fortress was the smallest of the seven worlds. The world's geography is primarily a wasteland that's filled with piles and piles of cubic scrap metal garbage everywhere.

"So this is what we're up against..." Mimosa said in awe as she looked up the fortress.

"I'm scared… really scared." Cyano cowered behind Mimosa in fear. "I don't wanna go in there…"

"We've been through much worse, little guy." Mimosa reassured. "We can handle this."

Cyano gulped. "O-okay then, as long as nothing bad occurs..."

Elline looked to her side for comfort and before remembering what happened. She sighed sadly and watched on the tower.

The quartlet walked closer to the fortress. The amount of garbage and debris decreased as they got closer, which gave them a clearer view of the building. There is only one entrance inside that's locked tight and guarded by searchlights (powered by bzztbulbs).

"How do we get in without sounding the alarm?" Bandana Dee crossed his arms.

Cyano looked at the fortress from all angles: the sky, the door, the sides…

"Maybe instead of going in from the front, we could go in from behind?" Cyano considered quietly. "I would guess that the back door isn't as guarded. _If there is one…_ "

The other three pondered on the idea for a bit.

"It's worth a shot." Bandana Dee shrugged.

"Then let's be on our way fellows." Mimosa grinned.

The trio sneaked around to the other side of the fortress and found that it was not as well guarded as the front. There were only two searchlights and a cotta knight watching over the gate.

"That makes sneaking in slightly easier…" Bandana Dee said. "But that gate doesn't seem to open anytime soon.

"But we don't have time to wait for something to happened.…" Elline said.

"Then I'll make something to happen right now." the sportle picked up a piece of trash and tossed it at the door, making a light 'thud' sound on it.

This caused a search light to move towards their position.

"That's also my cue." Before anyone could react, Mimosa grabbed Cyano, Elline and Bandana Dee and flew behind a large garbage pile. After a few moments of investigating, the light moved back to its origin.

Bandana Dee was the first to squiggle out of the sportle's grip and glance back at the tower. "How crazy can you get?"

"Very…" Mimosa replied.

Elline facepalmed and sighed.

"Look, the gate is opening up!" Cyano pointed out

True to the cotta's word, the gate was slowly opening up. A small dustcart emerged from the door and drove away from the fortress. It is carrying the same type of scrap metal and junk as the garbage in the outskirts

"Follow it!" Mimosa yelled. Everyone else nodded.

The vehicle maneuvered around the piles of trash as it continued to drive to a remote location. The four hid behind another mountain of trash as the vehicle stopped near the rainbow bridge. They saw a tan cotta exited the driver's door and walked towards the rear loader.

"Hey, what's he doing?" Cyano asked a bit too loud.

Everybody shushed him almost instantly. The poor cotta immediately cowered in fear and remained silent.

The tan cotta by the truck was prepping the dustcart for something. The four watched in confusion as the rear loader began moving. Then it tilted towards the ground and released trash.

"That explains why there's a lot of trash here…" Bandana Dee said calmly.

"How dare he litters!" Elline retorted almost too loud. "I'm going to teach him a lesson for that!"

"W-wait!" Bandana Dee stood in front of the steaming fairy. "We can't let him see us! What if he calls reinforcements?"

"That doesn't matter to me. Littering is bad for the environment!" Elline replied

"You call this world a 'healthy environment'?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"Bad or good, any world that has natural environment is something we have to take care of or—"

Before she could finish, they heard the sound of something falling to the ground. Elline, Bandana Dee and Cyano turned towards the source to discover that the tan cotta was knocked out by a swing of a pink tentacle from a certain sportle.

"You guys bicker too much." Mimosa giggled.

"How did... You were just-" Bandana Dee stuttered.

"You should know by now that I can move fast and stealthily if I wanted to." She replied. "Now let's figure this thing out before he wakes up."

The quartet investigated all parts of the dustcart. Cyano climbed into the driver's seat. Instead of a steering wheel, there is a set of four buttons that tells the truck what to do.

" _I've never seen anything like this before. But this looks easy enough."_ Cyano thought as he examined the four buttons.

"This thing looks cool…" Bandana Dee started.

"I think it can help us sneak inside but who is going to drive it?" Elline wondered. "It can't be me, I might mess up."

"I'm on the same boat…" Bandana Dee shrugged.

"I, for one, can barely fit inside the driver's seat and even if I could, I'll just be given away." Mimosa said.

The only one remains is the one who hasn't said anything because he was intrigued by the vehicle. Mimosa floated in front of the vehicle and winked at the cotta.

"Well, little guy, you're gonna do what no cotta's done before."

"And what's that?" he asked quietly.

"Oh I see where this is going now." Bandana Dee said.

"I don't." Elline admitted.

"Mimosa's is going to use Cyano as a way for us to go inside. They won't suspect a thing with him." Bandana Dee explained. Cyano gasped at the idea.

"Righto!" Mimosa grinned.

"But they'll see that he's not tan." Elline argued. "Then they'll find us. And Claycia and Kirby will never be rescued."

"That's where you come in!" Mimosa grinned. "You can paint him tan can't you?"

"Yeah I can but… ohhh." She said upon realization. "But is Cyano really suited for something like this?"

"I'll be fine Miss Elline. And it's not like we have a choice anyways."

"And there you go." Mimosa said with a smirk. Elline eyed her for a moment before shrugging (again) in defeat.

"Guys, there's one thing we need." Cyano said.

"And what's that?" Elline asked.

"Some sort of slot thingy that goes here…"

"You mean this card that this fallen cotta was holding on to?" Bandana Dee held up an entirely purple card towards the group.

"Yes! That thing!" Cyano beamed. "Now this thing will work."

"Good, he'll drive that and we'll hide in the compactor. It's large enough to fit all of us." Mimosa said.

"In that thing!? Disgusting!" Elline blurted out.

"Have any better ideas, hmm?" Mimosa showed a rare sign of narrowing her two eyes at her creator.

"Y-you have a point…" Elline muttered. "Anyways, Cyano come here will you."

Cyano did as he was told. In almost an instant, the fairy brushed over the cotta's body and removed all traces of his unique cyan color.

"And don't worry about how to tell if it's really him. I got that all covered." Mimosa winked.

Bandana Dee and Elline looked at each other in confusion before turning towards the cotta.

"Trust me, I can tell why it's easy for her." Cyano confirmed.

* * *

"Poyoo…" Kirby sighed.

While all the others were planning a sneak-in without him or Claycia knowing, Kirby was stuck in his colorless cell room trying to find a way out.

Unfortunately, the only ways out of the area is through the colorless zone and the air vent on the ceiling. One will drain his color rapidly and the other is sealed… or is it?

Kirby looked towards the air vent for the umpteenth time and narrowed his eyes. His injuries haven't been completely healed but he could still move around and even fly if he wished too.

"Poyo…" Kirby shook his head. He doesn't have a choice in the manner. He's going to have to use some degree of his power in order to escape before anything worse happens.

Against his will, he inflated and floated towards the air vent. Once he reached it, he gave it a slight pull. Kirby was surprised to find out that the vent wasn't properly sealed. He could open it and escape if he pulls hard enough.

"Poyo!" he cried and began pulling as hard as he could…

* * *

A purple dustcart was driving its way through the outer junkyard, piloted by a certain cyan cotta that was painted tan. Cyano gulped in nervousness as he got closer to the back door and each time the searchlights pinpointed the dustcart. The vehicle ended up in front of the door and stopped.

"It's too small in here!" Bandana Dee whispered. "I thought that there would be enough space for all of us!"

"I did say that… but I never said it'd be comfortable." She giggled.

"Quiet, you two. I think I can hear something out there." Elline said.

The back gate opened up and a unusual blob of clay-type creature emerged. It had electricity surging all around it's purple clay body.

It spoke some gibberish to Cyano. It was assumed that it's asking for the purple card.

Cyano nervously handed it over to them. It took a few moments but the creature cleared it and went back inside to clear the other cottas that were about to leave. Cyano followed the dirt roadway into the parking area.

The back "courtyard" is basically some sort of productive junk factory. Trash and debris were being piled up and transferred through each of the two sections. To his right, there was a gate door that's leads to a small purple dome that's directly connected to the fortress. In addition, it was locked and guarded by more electric clay monsters. To his left, there were a series of gates that go around the fortress and probably to the other side. Tan cottas and a small amount of bombzaways were cleaning up the trash loading them onto the various dustcart.

Cyano drove over to the pickup station to park the dustcart alongside the small row of them.

Bandana Dee, Elline and Mimosa climbed out of the vehicle and stood low within the rows of trucks.

"Claycia must be plotting something big if there's so much trash here." Bandana Dee whispered.

"Hey, where's Cyano at?" Elline questioned.

Just then they heard gibberish voices on the other side of the truck. They peeked around the corner and saw him confronting two of those electrical clay monsters that are known as shockcreepas.

"What are those things?" Bandana Dee gulped.

"They look so slimy …" Elline added.

The shockcreepas spouted angry gibberish at the poor cotta who's barely maintaining his posture. They might have saw him unload "junk" into the courtyard and are demanding him to pick them up. One of them decided to touch Cyano with its own body as punishment. The cotta felt a surge of electricity escalating throughout his body that made him jump a little bit.

"How dare they touch that little cotta!" Mimosa yelled angry and began approaching them. She was held back by Bandana Dee and Elline.

"Don't give away our hiding spot!" Bandana Dee warned.

"He's right." Elline added. "Let's follow them so we can get around safety."

"Fine…" she grumbled.

Cyano began walking towards his post with the shockcreepas tagging right behind him. The trio followed them through the row of trucks up until they would walk into an open field.

Once the coast was clear, they hid behind various junk debris and conveyor belts and followed the cotta. Once the two monsters set him back into his "post", they left Cyano unattended. All he could do is watch his fellow evil species clean up the trash around him.

"Ookay, I'm not too keen on this but I have an idea of how to get him out of there." Mimosa said.

"What's that? It better not involve throwing something." Bandana Dee moaned.

"As much as I wish it involved throwing junk, it isn't. It's something I'm rarely do for good reason." Mimosa looked away slightly nervously.

"Oh... that's really surprising..." Elline said.

"If that's the case then we can find another way around this courtyard you know?" the waddle dee suggested

"Don't worry about it. Just watch and see…" she began concentrating her mind...

Elline and Bandana Dee watched something that they never expected to see… Mimosa split her body into two separate sportles that are significantly smaller than her original size. They both have four tentacles and share one eye each. The two then flew out into the open before they could say anything.

"D-d-did you know—"

"N-n-no… she kept stuff like that to herself…" Elline replied.

The Mimosa clones flew around the junkyard rapidly, trying to find a way to rescue their cotta friend and move on.

After quickly maneuvering around the guards, they came up across a wall that blocked access to the other side. In addition, the door is sealed by a lock and the patrolling shockcreepa holds a gold key on top of its head.

They simultaneously sighed at a loss of what to do next. After looking closely at where each conveyor belt connects to, they saw that there was one central belt that brings the trash to different locations in the courtyard. Each location created the fairly large hill of junk that are relatively close to one another.

"This isn't going to work. She'll be found for sure." Elline sighed sadly.

"She might have some more tricks up her sleeve though." Bandana Dee said while watching the sportles closely.

In an instinct, one of the clones zoomed right to the top of the shockcreepa guard and tried pulling the key out while the other snuck right past the struggling guard and hid behind other tall junk piles. The first clone quickly declared the stunt to be unsuccessful and flew away to join the other clone before the monster saw them.

"That was way too reckless!" Elline gasped.

The clones growled angrily when the pickpocketing attempted failed. Now they had to resort to their back up plan…

The clones concentrated themselves and rejoined together. After a moment, they merged back into one specimen. Then Mimosa began pulling out large pieces of cubic scrap metal out of the pile until the hill was barely able to keep standing.

"This is gonna be fun." She said with a smirk. With a single tentacle, she briefly tapped the large pile to fall in the direction of the door…

The junk toppled over another hill, causing it to fall and vice versa. The shockcreepa heard the sound of it and turned towards the source…

…Where it was instantly buried on top of huge rubble, dropping the key near the door. The domino effect continued all across the courtyard, frightening all the cottas and remaining shockcreepas.

"See, I knew she had some sort of trick up her sleeve." Bandana Dee grinned.

"Another reckless trick…" Elline sighed.

"Let's get out of here while we have the chance."

Bandana Dee and Elline ran alongside the walls and ducked whenever appropriate and met up with the laughing sportle by the door.

"That was the most fun I've ever had!" she giggled. "But I'll never do that ever again since I tend to argue with myself."

"You almost gave me several heart attacks, you know!" Elline mumbled.

"Even I wasn't sure on what to do for a moment there until I saw all the pillars of trash." Mimosa admitted.

"Anyways, let's get out of here with this key before they figure out what happened!" Bandana Dee opened the lock and was prepared to go through until he felt a tentacle surround his body.

"We're forgetting someone you know!" she yelled.

"Who? Me?" a familiar voice was heard. Cyano stood behind the large sportle as if nothing happened.

"Yes, you." Mimosa turned around to greet the cotta in disguise. "Let's-a-go now!"

The four of them ran through the door and locked it from the other side. Elline removed the color from the cotta. They all listened against the wall to hear the scrambling about. They then turned around and looked in the new area they were in.

Unlike the previous part of the courtyard, this one is void of any enemies. Only conveyor belts that were extending from the trash dome up ahead, so they were safe… for now.

"I gotta say Mimosa, I never thought that you could undergo mitosis and then reform like that." Bandana Dee said with surprise.

"I rarely do that trick because it can be really exhausting and I tend to get into arguments with myself." She shrugged. "Although, in this case it wasn't so bad…"

"Uh guys…" Cyano warned on deaf ears.

"What else can you do? I'd really like to know." Elline wondered.

"It wouldn't be fun if I told you my other hidden traits, Elline" Mimosa replied much to the fairy's dismay. " _Although, I think I don't have any more tricks up my sleeve."_

"Guys… hey guys…?" Cyano jumped in the middle of group, in which all of them replied "what" calmly.

"We've been spotted." Cyano pointed at a singular shockcreepa staring at them for the whole time.

"Oh no…" Elline gulped.

The enemy glared at them before slowly moving towards the four of them.

"Let's get rid of it quickly before it sounds the alarm." Bandana Dee equipped his spear and charged straight at the monster

Cyano's widened his eyes. "W-w-w-wait, don't attack—"

The spear thrust pierced into the monster's body and suffered some damage. At the same time, Bandana Dee felt a surge of electricity flow through the shaft and into him.

"YOWWW!" He cried in pain before being flung back violently.

"Are you alright!?" Elline asked with concern.

"I've been worse…" Bandana Dee shook his head and stood up.

"I… should have warned you earlier about those… shockcreepas…" Cyano mumbled fearfully.

The monster let out a small cry before it resumed approaching them. Elline drew a rainbow rope as a shield but the monster destroyed it upon contact. The group continued backing up slowly until they were backed up against trash conveyor belt, riding alongside the fortress wall.

"Anyone have any ideas before the thing gets us?" Bandana Dee gulped.

Mimosa looked around the area and remembered where they were. "Well if we can't touch it directly then we'll just toss junk at it." She picked up a cube of debris from the conveyor and hurled at the creature.

The shockcreepa winced in pain and slowed down. Mimosa continued pelting the monster with the cubic junk with Bandana Dee following suit. Elline and Cyano simply watched the engagement.

After suffering a barrage of hits, the monster wobbled before collapsing in defeat.

"Nice work!" Elline praised. "We should be able to enter that dome and get inside."

"…that was easier than I expected. And all it took was me getting zapped into oblivion." Bandana Dee remarked.

The quartet continued their trek across the junk factory courtyard, while being vigilant of any other potential clay guard. Thankfully, they reached the other side of the dome with no other trouble. Unlucky for them, the door was locked tight.

Elline crossed her arms in thought. "Every locked door we've seen in our adventure had some sort of key hidden nearby and this one has to be no exception."

"Is this light sensor the key you were talking about Miss Elline?" Cyano asked.

There was a peculiar device built into the dome nearby that shined a blue light onto the ground.

"That thing? I can't be certain… Hey what are you doing?" she wondered.

The curious cotta walked into the light. Before anyone said anything, the light turned red and blinked a few times before turning back to the blue.

"What was that all about!?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"Oh… I see now, this thing is what you may call a 'clay-o-metric' reader. It can grant access to certain clay life forms." Cyano said.

"It helps to know what it does but it doesn't help that it can't help us get inside." Elline pointed out.

"Oh, don't worry about it Miss. Mimosa already went off somewhere to find a way in." Cyano stated in a carefree manner.

"Wait what… where did…" Bandana Dee turned around to discover that the large pink sportle was nowhere to be seen. "She's a slippery one…"

"Who's a slippery one?" A familiar voice ringed from somewhere.

Bandana Dee turned back around nearly got thrown off his feet. Elline and Cyano giggled at his response.

Mimosa was carrying the unconscious shockcreepa with her tentacles and held it right in front of the waddle dee.

"Jeez, you scared me to death!" Bandana Dee pouted.

"But you're still alive so I don't see the problem." She playfully stuck out a tongue at him, causing the waddle dee to growl in annoyance.

"Anyways, we should begin moving. Kirby is waiting for us." Elline reminded hastily.

Cyano and Bandana Dee nodded at the order. Mimosa smirked slightly before placing the monster into the light sensor. The device flashed green and the door opened.

"Let's go everyone!" Elline flew in quickly with Cyano and Bandana Dee following behind. Mimosa stayed behind for a bit.

"I like her enthusiasm. It makes sense why she's wants to find him so badly." She giggled.

* * *

Kirby fell back to the ground for the fifteenth or so time. The air vent was clearly not going to give into his strength no matter how hard he tried. He sighed in defeat before rolling back into a corner.

"Poyo… _CHU_!" he sneezed. Somebody must have mentioned him a few times…

He began to have thought about where his friends could be. They could be held here in the fortress somewhere, trapped on Red Volcano or…

No, he wouldn't think that would happened to them.

"Dee… Ell… line…" he mumbled before looking back at the ceiling.

* * *

" _Ahh-chuuuu!"_ Elline and Bandana Dee sneezed.

"Gesundheit!" Cyano and Mimosa said.

"That's weird, I rarely sneeze." Bandana Dee said. "Somebody might have been mentioned us."

Elline thought for a moment before smiling after a few seconds. This didn't go unnoticed by the other three. Bandana Dee and Mimosa glanced at each other with a smirk. Cyano shrugged and looked on.

The band of four continued onward. The interior of the dome is composed of metal gratings that spiral to the bottom floor where it is full of junk. Elevator shafts continue to lift up the cubic junk and direct it to the conveyor belt that leads outside.

"So that's where all the trash is coming from." Bandana Dee said.

"I can't figure seem to figure out why Claycia was in possession of all this trash." Elline wondered.

"Claycia isn't that type of gal to recycle, that's for sure." Mimosa pointed out.

" _Let's see here… scrap metal… broken gears…_ " Cyano thought.

"Well, whatever she was doing with this trash doesn't concern me. I just want everything to be back to normal." Elline declared.

"Right, so let's move on." Bandana Dee marched forward with Mimosa and Elline following behind.

" _It seems like… these were all parts of a destroyed machine…_ " Cyano thought.

"You're going to get left behind if you don't hurry!" Elline yelled at the cotta from the second level directly below him.

"Ahh! Sorry Miss! I'm coming!"

* * *

"Claycia…" the right hand started.

"Why… are we here… in this wondrous… realm, instead of… helping to clean up… the large mess… outside?" the left hand finished.

"Because there are things that are more important to discuss. Besides… whatever happens outside is none of my concern because I'm done with those prototypes I've made." She snarled. Anyways, I'll start off by asking you two if you did what I commanded?"

"We… set aside… three cottas… to do the job." The right hand replied.

"After they… are finished… with the gourmet meal… they'll head… straight back into… the factory."

"Good…" Claycia chuckled lightly. "Utilize resources efficiently can save a lot of time and have you do other things that are more important. "Speaking of which…"The sculptress reached into her robes and pulled out a glass jar that contained a piece of black clay that's the size of a marble. "This… 'additional ingredient' must be added inside that meal those foolish cottas are making. Then you make sure that the meal is served our pink guest. Once he's finished filling his belly… well, let's just say that free will to him is a null thing... hehehehehehehahaha…."

* * *

The gang continued walking down the metal gratings. Eventually, they reached the bottom of the garbage dome where it is filled with layers of junk.

"Is that a door!?" Elline spotted on the wall ahead

"It's sealed though and I don't see a way to open this." Bandana Dee followed behind.

"Don't tell me we have to dig through all this trash!" she retorted.

Suddenly, a swift but violent rumble was from beneath. Cyano was the only one to spot a glimpse of the movement.

"Umm… guys…" he mumbled.

"Oh, did you find something?" Bandana Dee asked.

"N-no…" he shooked.

Another swift movement occurred in the pile. This time, Mimosa caught her eye on it.

"Judging by your reaction right now… and my own observation… and deductive reasoning…"

"What 'deductive reasoning'?" Elline sweat dropped.

" _Ahem…_ Point is, there's something hidden beneath us and it won't come out of hiding anytime soon." She finished.

"Is that so…" Bandana Dee spoke out. "Well, I'll make it come out!"

"How would you do that bandana guy?" Cyano asked.

Bandana Dee didn't reply. They were all silent in anticipation.

"G-get me in the air Elline…" he whispered.

"Wha!? Me!?" she replied.

"Yes… you… please." He said silently.

"Well, you could have just said so." Elline rolled her eyes and drew a rainbow into the air. "There. Does that help?"

"That's just what I needed!" Bandana Dee replied happily. "Now I'll do this trick on the ground!"

The waddle dee sprinted up the rainbow slope and jumped off as if it was a diving board. He aimed his spear downward into the center of the room.

"Moon Drop!" He yelled. The attack created a minor shockwave into the junk pile.

After a moment, the creature rose above the ground and roared in anger.

A quick glance shows that monster is a blob of sludge. The monster's body was light blue and had yellow eyes with dark pupils. It had some sort of dark blue "exoskeleton" covering its head.

"Gross! What is that thing!?" Elline said.

"Mag… moros… is what… I-I-I would call it…" Cyano shuttered behind Mimosa.

"Magmoros? Magmoros, it is then." Mimosa declared the name.

The creature spewed sludge at the four of them. Bandana Dee knocked it away easily with his (invincible) spear. Enraged, Magmoros covered itself in sludge and charged straight at them.

"Uh oh! Split up!" Elline warned.

Everyone wasted no time moving out of the way otherwises they would end up like bowling pins. Bandana Dee and Cyano ran in opposite directions while Elline and Mimosa simply flew higher in the air. Magmoros collided into the door and left a huge dent in it.

Elline gasped upon seeing the door. "That's it! Everyone we need to get that thing to open the door for us!"

After hearing Elline's statement, Bandana Dee looked towards the pile and tossed debris at Magmoros to get its attention.

"Hey you! Over here!" he taunted.

Magmoros turned towards the waddle dee and moved slowly towards him. It was only half way to him when it got hit by another piece of debris by another.

"Hey ugly! You can't reach me up here! Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah!" Mimosa yelled.

"What are you doing? I had him there!" Bandana Dee yelled at the sprotle.

"And what? Let you have all the fun? No way!" she smirked.

"We might be in for a real blast soon enough." Elline warned the other two.

Magmoros built up its sludge and fired blobs of it everywhere. Bandana Dee narrowly avoided the onslaught by ducking into the junk. Mimosa was dodging them with relative ease until she saw Elline's rainbow rope shield so she hid behind that. And Cyano… vanished?

"It can't see me behind a small pile of scrap metal prototypes!" Cyano said. He was in front of the door but behind a small hill of junk he made.

Some of the sludge from the onslaught made its way to the door, damaging it even more.

" _All we need is one more attack from that nasty monster and we'll be in the fortress for sure_!" Elline thought.

The monster ended its barrage attack to rest for a moment. Bandana Dee saw this as a moment to strike. He ran forward and impaled the back of the monster with his spear, causing it to grow in pain.

The monster retaliated by diving beneath the junk pile rapidly.

"Oh I didn't see that coming…" Bandana Dee gulped. "Where's Kirby for help when you need him…"

His prayers has been called when Mimosa suddenly swooped in and pulled the waddle dee off the ground before Magmoros would collapse the ground underneath where he was standing.

"I'm not Kirby but I can be just as helpful as him." Mimosa winked.

" _And more weird and crazy…"_ Bandana Dee added in his thoughts.

The monster appeared above ground and searched the area, wondering where he could be.

"That's your guys' cue." Elline reminded.

The pair nodded. Mimosa dropped Bandana Dee directly above Magmoros. Bandana Dee landed his moon drop right on top of the monster, then jumped off and ran towards the door.

The monster shook his head from the attack and saw the waddle dee running away. Enraged and wanting to finish this off, it charged after him while covered in sludge. It was aiming right towards the door, just like they all have planned.

"Almost there…" Elline hoped.

" _Wait a moment…"_ Mimosa thought. _"Where is my little cotta at?"_ Mimosa noticed a small junk pile that is the size of Cyano, barricaded in the front of the door.

Without hesitation, the sportle flew faster than anyone who has seen her fly towards the door. In a split second, she swatted away the junky shield, picked up Cyano in her other tentacles and flew back.

Bandana Dee jumped straight out of the way of the door just as he was going to collide with it. Magmoros collided into the door headfirst and busted it open. As a result, the monster was weak and dazzled. Bandana Dee landed the final attack into the body of the monster, causing it to cry in pain before turning into clay and breaking apart.

"Bandana Dee! Are you alright?" Elline flew to his side and helped him up.

"Never better!" Besides the two of you girls did awesome!" he held his palm up for a high five, in which the fairy gladly accepted.

Mimosa was showing rare signs of affection towards Cyano by hugging him tightly.

"Alright, you." She lectured. "Don't go hiding behind in the middle of that dangerous scenario like that ever again, you get me?"

"I'm sorry, Mimi." He lightly blushed. "I was too scared to do anything to help."

The sportle released him onto the ground. "But you helped us a lot, we wouldn't have snuck in here without your help, you know." She smiled.

"Mimosa is right." Elline added. "Without you as a disguise, we may have had to resort to fighting our way in and I wouldn't want that."

"Your trade for brawn is brains." Bandana Dee finished. "I do wonder why you are so smart and know everything though."

"Oh um… I just know my stuff, that's all…" Cyano replied. "But thanks you guys…"

The other three smiled at him in reply before looking on towards the pieces of clay by the broken door.

"Claycia would never make a disgusting monster like that." Elline said. "I can't even think about how she made it without my help.

"An answer to that lies at the source." Mimosa said.

"The source of all of our problems and the answers to everything we need to know." Bandana Dee said.

"It won't be easy getting to Claycia." Elline said. "The fortress might be riddled with her guards."

"No problem for the four of us, right. Especially when we add one more member back soon..."

"We... don't know where he could be held captive..." Elline said upon realization.

"Don't worry, miss. We'll find Kirby." Cyano said.

"Who knows, he could have broken free from his cell and is wandering around the area." Bandana Dee suggested.

"I hope so... but there's only one way to find out if that's true..." Elline looked towards the doorway and noticed the staircase going up...

 **And there we go. On my best day, I could write half a chapter. On my worse day… well… it'll take several weeks to write a few lines…. Hehehe…**

 **And as we can both tell, my worse days are waaaaay more frequent than my best days…**

 **Anyways, the next chapter's events ties heavily into this one so if something needs changing here, I'll do a silent edit and let you all know whenever I post chapter 18 which hopefully won't take 3000 years to post**


	18. The Clayfission Machine

**Thank you KirbyPwnz1234 and merendinoemiliano for the reviews last chapter. I definitely haven't given up on this story. Especially since we're so close to the end.**

 **This next chapter is all over the place… at least that's the impression I got from my "months" worth of editing. However, once this chapter is finished, it'll be a (semi)straight line to the goal.**

 **I also gotta say that Star Allies is a fun game. I don't care what anyone says about it. Playing it with real friends is what I consider it to be the main appeal of the game.**

Chapter 18: The Clayfission Machine

"We have returned…" the hands announced as they entered her balcony chamber.

"How goes the progression of my clay specimen?" Claycia asked while her attention was out towards the unusual realm.

"All on schedule…" both hands said.

"And inform me on the status of the pink pest and any sightings of his friends that may try and sneak in?"

"He's… still in… the cell." The right hand said.

"No break-ins reported… as of now…" The left hand added. _"Other than that… little skirmish outside… that she refuses to acknowledge…"_

"Lastly… are those bumbling cottas doing what you told them to do?"

"Errrm… a minor delay… in the preparations… but… things shouldn't… matter much…" the left hand gulped.

Claycia didn't respond. The Grab Hands gulped and nervously looked at each other in the awkward silence.

"Good…" Claycia finally replied. "Our next topic will be on deciding which planet to invade next."

The Grab Hands sighed in relief before looking at each other in interest.

* * *

 _Earlier…_

Kirby panted after another attempt of pulling down the vent. He was able to weaken it more but at the rate he was going at, it wouldn't open in a million years.

That's when he had to use another power… his inhale ability. But he had to do it in a semi-quiet manner so attention wouldn't be drawn to himself.

"Poyo…" Kirby exhaled before inhaling rather quickly. At first, the vent seal wasn't moving but soon screw pieces were breaking off. Before he knew it, the entire thing broke apart and landed in Kirby's mouth.

"Poyo!" He cheered as he swallowed the vent seal. He floated to the top and crawled into the air vent. The passageway was dimly lit but he was still able to see parts of the path ahead. Without haste, he began moving to the nearest vent and pushed it through.

He fell through and landed just outside his prison cell. Kirby looked back at his cell before moving his way up the stairs, with his injuries slowly healing.

The Purple Fortress infrastructure is just like a typical castle, the amount of corridors created a maze of some sorts. Obviously, the color purple was present on the walls and ceiling and even glossed on the marble floor. Kirby saw a few cotta general guards patrolling the area but he knew that many were outside or near wherever Claycia was located at.

Speaking of Claycia, he now thought of what to do next. His options were limited at the moment and he had no idea where his friends could be at. He decided to just explore the castle and look for an opportunity to not pass up when the time arrives.

Kirby's stomach began to grumble as he scavenged the hallway. He has yet to eat anything for quite some time. He walked up a small set of stairs and sniffed an aroma scent.

From down the hallway he was in, he could see an entryway on the wall where he believes the scent is coming from. Without haste, Kirby quickly rolled towards the entry way and appeared in a kitchen.

The simple kitchen had everything a kitchen would have: a refrigerator, sink, utensils etc. What really caught his eye was the amount of food lying on the table. It was filled with chopped up fruits such as mangoes, peaches and oranges while also having some cooked and uncooked steak with seasonings sitting by them.

"Poyo…!?" His eyes were filled with sparkles and he jumped into the pile, devouring each fruit and savoring the taste. The food also healed his injuries from his latest fight.

Kirby was about to move onto the next set of food before he heard footsteps from outside. He quickly got down from the table and hid behind the counter while looking towards the doorway. Three green cottas with chef hats and a shockcreepa were outside the door. One of the green cottas had a blue chef hat while the other two had hats that matched their color. The monster spewed some sort of angry-ish gibberish at them for whatever reason before departing. The three cottas walked inside with anxiety clearly shown on their small faces.

"If... if that thing figured out we were trying to escape…" one gulped.

"We're fine… for now." The blue hat cotta said. "We might as well finish cooking the meal for whoever Claycia is giving it to, then try and escape again before we get overworked and turn… tan." The second one said.

"Right, but there's one problem Boss…" the last one mentioned.

"And what's that?" the blue hat cotta replied.

"Most of the food is gone…" the cotta replied with a panicked voice.

"Oh dear…" he mumbled.

The three cottas looked at each other in fear before running in circles.

"We're doomed!" they yelled simultaneously.

"We don't have enough materials to finish creating the meal!"

"I wanna go home!"

Kirby looked down in guilt. His own stomach got in the way and caused problems for others, even if they were foes...

Although, the puffball now recognized those cottas. Those are the same ones that lived on the large cloud in Blue Sky Palace. They were the ones that showed the most appreciation to him and they also followed Bandana Dee around for whatever reason. He questioned why they were here but he knew he had to rescue them somehow.

"Poyo!" he said. This caused the cottas to stop running around and slowly turn to the source of the noise.

Kirby rolled out from behind the corner with his signature smile… with crumbs all over on his face.

"K-K-K-Kirby!?" they asked simultaneously in which he nodded happily. They then swarmed him in happiness.

"We're gonna be rescued!" they yelled.

"Poyo? Poyo?" He gestured his hands in the shape of a familiar fairy paint brush and a waddle dee.

"Wait, Miss Elline's not with you? What happened?" the led chef said.

"Poyo…" he started but he was cut off by voices in the hallway. The voices sounded a lot more dread.

"Nooo!"

"Not the Hands! Anyone but them!"

"Hide Kirby!" they told him. Kirby nodded and he hid around the counter again just as the left hand entered the kitchen. It was pretty unusual for the left hand to be separated from its comrade.

"What are… you idiots… doing!?" the left hand snarled. "Have you… finished the… meal!?"

"I-i-i-it's in the oven sir!" one cotta stuttered. "We just put the meal in there."

The left hand floated towards the oven while not seeing Kirby directly behind him. "So then… why is… the oven… cold!?"

On cue, one cotta ran to the oven and heated it. Kirby slowly moved away from the unsuspecting hand until he accidently knocked over a frying pan onto the ground, catching the hand's attention. The left hand instantly turned around to the source of the noise. Instead of seeing Kirby, the hand sees one of the cottas standing in front of him nervously.

"Pick it up… now…!" he snarled. The cotta obeyed immediately and set the frying pan on the counter while being very careful not to expose Kirby who was hiding behind him to the left hand.

"And… what's with… the mess… on the counter…" The grab hand levitated towards the table where Kirby devoured half the ingredients. "Clean that up… or… you'll be… joining the rest… of your… friends!"

"R-right away!" they yelled as they grabbed mops, towels and sponges and began cleaning.

"Before I forget…" it said, catching all of their attentions. "Put this… ingredient… into the meal…"

The left hand held out the small jar that contained the marble clay. The clay inside was restless as it kept banging on the glass in the direction Kirby is hiding in. The hand placed the jar on the table.

"Finish this… quickly…" The left hand announced before leaving.

After the coast was clear, Kirby rolled out of his hiding place and joined the terrified trio of cottas.

"Kirby, go and find Miss Elline and Bandana Dee. We'll stay here." The blue hat cotta said.

Kirby shook his head instantly but the cottas wouldn't let him stay.

"If you stop Claycia, we'll all be free. Now go!" Another argued.

Kirby thought for a moment before agreeing reluctantly. He left the room and rolled off in a direction that's antiparallel to where the left Grab Hand went.

After Kirby left, the cottas turned back towards the small glass jar and looked at the clay ball inside. The restlessness of the marble clay has died down but it was still vibrating, as if it was giving off a negative aura.

"I don't like the looks of that thing."

"Who knows what happens if we open the jar?"

* * *

 _Back to the present…_

"Where should… we attack… next…?" the left hand asked Claycia.

Claycia was deep in thought of her next move.

"A neighboring… planet of… Popstar…?" the right hand suggested.

"Most of those planets near Popstar don't interest me." Claycia replied in the demonic voice. "They're all just unsubstantial lifeless copies of Popstar."

"It… won't matter… though… because… you'll siphon the color… from those planets… regardless."

"Yes…" her voice returned to normal. "But it's better to steal a lively planet's color first just to remove any potential threats… as well as to demonstrate my wrath upon them. Speaking of which, I've just remembered that there is a planet that we may go to next."

"And… what is… that…?" the hands asked.

"That… is the very planet other than Popstar that forced me into my weakened state. The planet of love and happiness. I've been there before on a mission to attempt to steal the jewel of the planet and use it for a conquest."

"What happened…?" they both asked with genuine interest.

"We… were unexpectedly thwarted. This time, however, this conquest won't be stopped. Once my Clayfission machine generates enough clay copies of my army, we'll invade in full force. Those life forms will witness their once great hero be turned against them!"

* * *

Kirby climbed up another set of stairs and appeared on the main floor. The hallway was a bit more declarative than the basement floors he was in. There were many designs of Claycia holding many worlds in her grasp as a symbol of her power decorated all over the walls.

There was a rather large window on the wall of the intersection. He made his way there after double checking to see if there were any monsters in the area. He couldn't see much of outside but he made out some sort of junkyard with loads of cottas and shockcreepas scampering around and cleaning up the junk.

"Poyo…" he sighed due to not seeing his friends anywhere. The puffball turned around and continued his trek through the hallways.

There were many instances where cotta generals patrolled the hallways, forcing the puffball to take a different route. There were also multiple laser pointing traps all over the place, similar to the ones seen in the Yellow Dunes ruins. Luckily for him, they were deactivated but that wasn't an excuse to let his guard down. Through all the navigation, he began hearing sounds of large moving parts that originates from a large machine. Curiously, Kirby listened for the sound's origin and tried to follow it through the corridors.

As he got closer to the sounds, it got much louder. Eventually, he saw a lone conveyor belt built into the wall that leads somewhere.

"Poyo?" he said curiously as he approached it.

The conveyor belt seemed to allow a user to drop material off. That material is then transferred to another part of the fortress. Kirby could also fully hear the sounds of moving parts on the other side. Thoughts of what this could all be for welled up inside him

"Poyo." Kirby shook his head at the thoughts of investigating this further and turned back. As he reached the intersection, he slowly looked around the corner and spotted two shockcreepas heading in his direction. They were both balancing large piles of clay on their heads.

If Kirby was anywhere else, he would battle the monsters coming but he couldn't with the huge risk of getting caught. With no other options, he ran back into the conveyor and jumped on it to let it carry him to wherever it led to, right as the two monsters came around the corner.

The shockcreepas slid to the conveyor belt and placed the clay on it there before turning to leave. Kirby saw the clay emerge from the entry and hides in the clay just as he makes it to the other side of the belt.

The puffball was now in a new location. It was a large and open factory with multiple conveyor belts connecting to one very large central machine. By many of the conveyors, there were blue cottas sculpting and smoothing the colorless clay as they are being brought to them. On the machine itself, there were green cottas maintaining it. All the cottas were showing signs of fatigue based on them wobbling from time to time. But they couldn't stop because of the multiple shockcreepas glaring at them from behind.

Kirby slowly approached the large machine. He only wondered what the machine's purpose is. In the middle of his thoughts, one blue cotta felt Kirby's body while he was trying to smooth it out. As he inspects it, one shockcreepa lashes at the cotta for "slacking off".

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the cotta pleaded. The monster glared at him and mumbled some gibberish as a warning before sliding back to it's post.

"Poyo…" Kirby sighed sadly as he could only watch helplessly for now. He was able to get one more glimpse at the exhausted cottas before everything went dark again.

Before Kirby could move, he felt himself being transferred into some sort of tube. He then went through a process of squishing and morphing with no one but himself hearing his screams of pain. After what seems to be an eternity, he was forced out onto the other side and landed on another conveyor perfectly unharmed.

Kirby sighed in relief that no physical pain was done to him. He then tried to get up and move around only to find out that he had no control over his feet and legs. Confused, he tried to inflate himself only for that to not work. Lastly, he tried to inhale but nothing happened.

"Poyo!?" he yelled in surprise.

"Poyo…" another voice called out.

Kirby turned to his left to find… another Kirby riding alongside him on a conveyor belt. This Kirby was standing on his two feet instead of the one wrapped up in a ball.

 **(Oh hey, skyguys here. Just to make things easier, rolling Kirby aka Rainbow Curse Kirby will be the one we've seen for 18 and a half chapters. The other Kirby aka classic Kirby is the one that actually walks around like he usually does before watching an apple roll down a hill. Rolling Kirby and Classic Kirby alright. You good? Okay,** **continue reading!)**

"Kabii?" both Kirbys simultaneously questioned in surprise while staring at each other.

Back in the control room, the cottas sees a warning light flash in front of them. They immediately gathered around it.

"This could be our chance to escape…" one said. The other five cottas nodded.

The shockcreepa that was standing guard at the door moved closer to the cottas in suspicion.

"J-just a little problem that we're going to fix." One cotta muttered.

The monster eyed them suspiciously before moving back to the door.

The computer monitor slowly typed out words on a small black screen. They read:

 _SYNTAX ERROR. SYNTAX ERROR. ATTEMPTING TO OVERWRITE ERROR AND CONTINUE FUNCTIONING._

All the cottas smiled upon seeing the message and "pretends" to try and fix it.

Kirby and Kirby exited the machine while continuing to stare at each other in disbelief. They looked at all features of their bodies and compared it to the other. While they were doing this, pickup bombzaways arrived to take the colorless enemies that were also ejected from the machine surrounding them. Eventually, the two Kirbys were the only one left.

The bombzaways flew over to them in confusion of what to do. This didn't go unnoticed by everyone else. The cottas standing on the machine and in the control room watched the event. Even the shockcreepa guards seemed confused.

The bombzaways muttered gibberish to each other before deciding to take them away. One latched onto rolling Kirby and began takeoff.

"Poyo!?" he yelled. He tried to swat it off but he couldn't due to him lacking hands and feet. He does, however, feel a lot more strong and nimbler than before.

Classic Kirby inhaled the monster on the other Kirby's head and spat him into a different bombzaway.

"Poyo!" Rolling Kirby thanked happily, earning a happy nod from the other.

It seems like the Clayfission machine did much more than simply split Kirby into two beings. One uses his inhaling power and the other uses his hidden sheer power.

The bombzaways glared at them. They then tried to swarm in onto the two heroes…

…Until Classic Kirby inhaled a quarter of the monsters and fired them back with his trademarked star spit attack, defeating almost all of them instantly. The remaining bombzaways fled in fear.

Some of the shockcreepas in the room took their place. They charged towards the duo in a shoulder by shoulder formation.

Rolling Kirby stood ready to fight but he felt himself being picked up. He looked down and saw his classic counterpart shaking his head in disapproval. Rolling Kirby looked back towards the horde and agreed before they took off from the factory.

* * *

The Grab Hands floated down the stairs towards Kirby's cell while carrying a very large, roasted apple.

"Did they… put the… clay… in?" the left asked.

"Yes…" the right answered. "Jar is empty..."

"Although…the kitchen… ended up… in a worse mess… than before…" the left finished. "And… the cottas… were even more… scared than before. It's not surprising… but still… strange…"

"Just… help me… get this… to his cell…" the right groaned.

The Grab Hands floated downstairs to Kirby's lone cell. The colorless zone remained in place and the vent door remained in the place it fell at. The Grab hands paid no attention to it.

"Hey… you…!" the left hand yelled without looking inside. "Dinner…!"

The right hand tossed the apple through the zone and onto the floor. The hands waited for the sounds of eating but none came. Confused, they flew into the room and discovered that Kirby was gone.

"Convenient…" they simultaneously said.

"What… do we… do?" the right hand asked.

"We tell… Claycia…"

Through some unknown method, they transmitted a telepathic voice to the sculptress.

"What is it, you two? I'm busy." Claycia asked in slight annoyance.

"Escaped… prisoner…" they replied.

Claycia let out a deep sigh on her end but the hands didn't hear it. They did, however, silently figure out that she is annoyed at them.

"Then find that pest and recapture him using whatever means necessary, simple as that." She said before ending the conversation.

"Ehhh… I was... bored anyways…" the left hand said.

"Yess… had fun… while chasing… those three…" the right hand.

"If only… the other two pests… are here now…"

* * *

Meanwhile, the quartet was navigating another section of the fortress. They checked around walls and hid behind pillars whenever guards were nearby.

They eventually came across what seems to be the inner ward of the fortress. There were three additional paths that led to where they are at now. One of them is a large door that leads outside. The other two lead into other parts of the fortress. At the center of the ward, there was a large tower that cycle between purple, pink and white. There were elevators all around the tower… along with a colorless zone enshrouding it.

"This is the same color as the tower we saw from outside the planet." Elline said. "Claycia is in here, I'm sure of it."

"One question remains, how are we going to get past this?" Bandana Dee asked.

Elline crossed her arms in thought.

"This aura looks really intriguing." Cyano said. "I wonder what happens if you step inside it…"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Bandana Dee warned. "It'll drain your color painfully."

Alarmed, the cotta stepped back instantly. "Oh, never mind. That's not intriguing… that's horrifying!"

"It is but I can simply repaint you." Elline said.

"I've always wondered... what happens if YOUR color gets drained?" Mimosa asked.

"I... well… I wouldn't want to know…" Elline gulped. Anyways, I know how we can get through here." The other three looked at her with interest. "Remember when Bastron blew up a second time? I think that explosion blew away the zone like it was polluted air."

"There was a colorless zone on Red Volcano?" Mimosa questioned. "Cyano and I didn't see anything?"

"What do you mean? There was one in front of the entrance into the mountain." Bandana Dee replied.

"Hmm… that doesn't ring a bell…" Cyano mumbled.

Before they continued the debate, they heard the sounds of many footsteps nearby.

"Uh oh, we shall continue this conversation later! Away I go!" Mimosa scattered off to a hiding place.

"That loud noise doesn't sound good! I gotta go too!" Cyano vanished as well.

"Uh, Elline, you better find a safe hiding spot right now!" Bandana Dee warned while running off somewhere.

Before she knew it, Elline happened to be alone in a fortress crawling with enemies. The fairy looked around frantically. "Where are all of you hiding at!? Don't leave me by myself!"

A small explosion was heard from around the tower. Elline immediately flew towards the ceiling as a result. She then looked around the tower and saw a huge group of Claycia's minions chasing something pink. Before the fairy could make out the figure(s) that was being chased, it turned in a different direction and headed off elsewhere with the crowd on its tail.

"Was that…" Elline gasped.

"What was that?" Bandana Dee said out of nowhere.

"More importantly, what where they doing?" Mimosa said.

"They were chasing something but it was hard to see from my hiding place?" Cyano said, who also magically walked into the scene.

Elline turned back around with a glare. "Where did you guys go!? You three took off without me!?" She yelled at the trio angrily.

"Oh… about that…" Mimosa laughed nervously.

"I warned you…" Bandana Dee said quietly.

"Let's just say I overreacted a bit by hiding behind one of those Claycia statues lined up in this hallway." The sportle finished.

Elline glared and crossed her arms angrily at the sportle. "Let's just follow that stampede already. I think they are chasing Kirby!"

"Woah, you sure?" Bandana Dee asked.

"Sure I'm sure, I know it!" she stated.

"Actually… Miss Elline…" Cyano spoke up which diverted all the eyes to him. "You should chase that stampede. I want to go to where they came from because I believe my friends are being held captive there."

"Y-yes, I agree with him." Mimosa spoke abruptly. "It's another mission we all planned together so it makes sense that we kill two birds with one stone."

"I'm not so sure we can stand up against that clay army with Bandana Dee and myself." Elline said.

"They are nothing I can't handle." Bandana Dee said. "And besides, there's a lot more than those guys in this weird fortress."

"I suppose you're right."

"Seems like we all agreed to this, let's-a-go now!" Mimosa said. "Wait... where did he go?

Elline and Bandana Dee pointed down the hallway where Cyano was already running towards. The sportle quickly followed him on the path.

Bandana Dee and Elline nodded to each other before taking off.

"Did you… happen to scare her?" Bandana Dee asked.

"I probably did… then again, she's a mystery one." The fairy shrugged.

"Did Miss Elline scare you?" Cyano asked.

Mimosa huffed in response. "As if! I would never be scared of her, no matter how angry she… gets…"

"So you do get scared sometimes…?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. But that's not the point…"

* * *

The two Kirbys ran through the hallway with an army of clay quickly closing the distance behind them. The Grab Hands led the chase.

"You… will not escape!" the hands shrieked.

"Poyo!" rolling Kirby replied in denial. He jumped out of Classic Kirby's grip and (who was already worn out from the running) and began rolling ahead.

Classic Kirby sees this as an opportunity to get away faster so he jumps on top of his counterpart to do a barrel roll!

"Poyooo!" rolling Kirby screamed as they slowly gained more distance from the horde.

"Don't let… them get away!" the left hand yelled. "Activate… the traps ahead!"

Immediately as they said that, the laser pointing traps ahead in the hallway began auto aiming at the duo. The duo then dodged each laser trap and continued on ahead.

While all those events were going on, another persistent duo somehow managed to catch up from behind.

"We've made it to them!" Elline cheered.

"Elline, look who it is!" Bandana Dee pointed out

The Grab hands were leading the assault, but they haven't seen them yet.

"Can things get any more complicated?" The fairy gulped as she lost her enthusiasm.

"Uhh… lefty?" the right hand gulped. "Those… pests are... behind us…"

"What pests…? Oh… them again…" the left hand sighed upon realization.

"What do… we do?"

"You… take care of them… I'll continue… chasing the third one…" the left hand said.

"Understood…"

The right hand turned around and faced Elline and Bandana Dee. The former duo stopped in place.

"Looking for… someone?" he taunted.

"Where's Kirby!?" Elline shouted.

"Oh… the pink pest…? He's… somewhere…"

"Don't play with us; you were just chasing him right now!" Bandana Dee growled.

"Maybe… maybe not… it doesn't… matter… you won't get past me…!" the right hand shireked.

Suddenly, automated doors in the hallway closed on both sides of them. This left only Bandana Dee, Elline and the right hand in a long corridor room.

"Meet… your end…!" the right hand yelled.

"He wants to trap us in here so we'll never rescue our friend!" Elline realized.

"Well, we will bust our way out of here once we take care of him…" Bandana Dee aimed his spear at the grab hand.

* * *

Cyano and Mimosa entered the factory room and witnessed the giant machine ahead of them. Because of earlier events, the shockcreepas and bombzaways were busy trying to maintain order and get back on schedule. This includes forcing the cottas were speed up their jobs. As a result, all the cottas in the area were about to collapse from sheer exhaustion.

"There they are!" Cyano yelled. "We have to free them or they'll permanently turn tan from overworking!"

"I'll take care of that… you should find the control room to shut this machine off." Mimosa suggested.

Cyano nodded and ran off to find the room. Mimosa slowly approached the monsters with some cottas recognizing her.

"Isn't that a sportle…?"

"Here out of all places…?"

"I thought sportles like to play pranks on us."

What's going on here?"

The shockcreepas turned towards the sportle and glared at her. Mimosa only grinned as they proceeded to surround her. She looked up and saw the bombzaways closing in on her from above in order to prevent her escape.

The cottas expressed their great fear through shivering. They believe their only unexpected chance of freedom will be in vain. Mimosa however, remained silent and vigilant as the shockcreepas prepared their electrical surges and bombzaways creating mine bombs.

"One fell swoop is the way I will deal with you clay-rats!" Mimosa exclaimed while entering a battle stance.

* * *

Cyano ran up the staircase and appeared at the door to the Clayfission control room. When he opened the door, he saw another shockcreepa tormenting his fellow cottas. The angry creature noticed him and began approaching the fearful cyan cotta.

"L-leave my friends a-a-alone…" he stuttered.

The monster made no effort to stop and it only drew closer. It was preparing to unleash an electrical surge on him. The six blue cottas in the room watched helplessly.

* * *

"Remember this… you are a brave little cotta. You are the first one who didn't run away from me at first sight..."

"Don't let your fear overcome you, okay?"

"Don't be so scared and isolated. Life is a lot more than being constantly vigilant." A familiar voice stated..

* * *

"I said…" Cyano growled, which surprised the shockcreepa and the cottas.

* * *

"Freeing your friends will show you how brave you really are."

"You have the brains, but you only use one part of it for fear and vigilance. Let go of yourself!" a sportle said.

* * *

"Leave my friends alone!" he shouted in an uncharacteristic scream. The cyan cotta lifted the monster overhead and tossed it out the window. Electricity escalated around him but he toughed it out. The shockcreepa squealed as it fell from the room and landed on the ground, near the sportle

"Heheheh, he actually listened to my advice I told him. What a cotta he is." Mimosa grinned as she flung another shockcreepa at the machine in hopes to electrocute it out of commission. "Can't back down now…" she grunted.

Back in the control room, the blue cottas cheered for him.

"I-it's nothing guys…" Cyano looked away nervously, his apprehensiveness getting the better of the cotta again.

"No, it was something alright." One said.

"That thing would zap us into oblivion if it suspects we were doing anything wrong."

"You showed that piece of clay its place!"

"Along with the rest around the machine."

"I've had help." Cyano said. "A sportle helped me get into this area and free you all."

"Yes, we were watching." They beamed. "Thanks to the sportle, we're no longer afraid—"

 _UNABLE TO BE OVERWRITTE ERROR. FORCING SHUTDOWN PROCEDURES._

All the cottas turned towards the monitor. It was flashing red repeatedly.

"This machine is badly programmed…" Cyano said.

"It is." One cotta said. "Claycia wanted us to make sure nothing goes wrong with it… so we made sure that something could go wrong with it."

"Even though that monster had its eye on us, it wasn't always constant."

"That is how we snuck away with sabotaging this machine."

"I… like that idea." Cyano chuckled.

 _SHUTDOWN CODE DOES NOT EXIST. BOOTING FAILSAFE CODE. FAILSAFE CODE IS NULL. ATTEMPTING TO READ IRRVELENT DATA. PROCESSING… PROCESSING…_

* * *

Kirby and Kirby managed to avoid the traps and attacks from the army and entered an arena like room. This brought another problem, they were trapped. The clay army appeared before them in numbers. The only apparent good news is that one of their leaders is gone due to pest control as they like to call it.

"It's over… now… pink pest…" the left hand declared. "Surrender now… and your end… won't be… displeasing…"

Both Kirbys shook their heads rapidly at them.

"Suit… yourself. This enjoyment… will end… soon enough…"

The left hand motioned his wave of armored cottas and large bronto burts to step forth in formation. The bronto burts covered the air and blocked all possible aerial escape routes and the armor cottas stood shoulder by shoulder with spears in their hands.

The two Kirbys smirked at each other as they got closer. Classic Kirby moved forward and readied himself.

And the other Kirby used his counterpart to jump high in the air and crash land onto the bronto burts, all in a quick succession. This attack resulted in the flying enemies being knocked down onto the grounded armored cottas and burying them in a dogpile.

The next wave stood ready with bombzaways and trakkers readying their aim at them. Classic Kirby simply walked a few feet forward. The moment the enemies fired their projectiles, Kirby began inhaling all of them.

The enemies stood in confusion as Classic Kirby gulped up all of their projectiles they tried to fire at him. All it took was a light tap on the side from Rolling Kirby to fire them all back as the star spit. The group was then pelted with their own projectiles which knocked them out.

The left hand growled in anger as it continued sending more and more waves of clay troops.

* * *

Bandana Dee continuously dodged the hand swipes of the right hand, trying to find the perfect opening

"You can't… keep dodging… forever…!" it yelled while smashing the ground.

While it was true that he can't keep running, the waddle dee could keep up the charade long enough to wear out his opponent. It would also give Elline time to examine the area.

"There has to be a way out of here." Elline muttered.

Bandana Dee found his opportunity by side stepping to the left of an attempted snatch and pierced the opened palm of the right hand, knocking it down temporally.

"Any progress Elline?" Bandana Dee breathed.

"I just need more time…" She simply replied.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the factory, the Clayfission program continued to output more errors, causing the machine was growing more unstable.

"Whatever you guys did, the machine can't seem to handle any more procedures…" Cyano said.

"That wasn't us, it just happened randomly."

 _WARNING, WARNING, THE NUMBER OF ERRORS INCREASE…_

"As expected…" the cyan cotta said.

 _BEGIN DENOTATION OF MACHINE BEFORE PROGRAM TERMINATES._

"Wait, what!?" he gasped.

A 2 minute countdown appeared on the clock…

The entire room was silent as the clock began ticking. Cyano was the first to break the silence.

"Let's get out of here now!" Cyano yelled.

Outside the room, the entire machine completely stopped in production. All the conveyor belts were halted and smoke was slowing emitting from the machine. The green cottas were confused to why it stopped. The fatigue Mimosa couldn't pay much attention because of the mass amounts of enemies she was facing.

Then an emergency alarm went off in the room. The green cottas fell off the machine in shock, the blue cottas backed away nervously and the remaining shockcreepas became wide-eyed and fled the area.

"What's going on...?" Mimosa questioned as the enemies pasted by her, ignoring her presence.

"Mimosa…!" a certain cotta yelled in which the sportle was overjoyed to hear.

"You're okay! Is everyone else fine? And what's with that noise?" she asked the approaching cotta.

"Everyone's okay but we all need to get out of here before this area is blown to bits!" Cyano exclaimed in fear.

The sportle showed a rare sign of fear on her face. "Well, we have no time to lose. I believe the rest of our little story will be concluded once every one of these cottas escapes!"

* * *

The two Kirbys worked together to plow through the onslaught of clay specimen. No matter what the Grab hand would throw at them, they would power through the foe together as one.

Finally, the left hand was the last remaining foe standing in their way. The hand simply growled before assuming a battle ready stance.

Rolling Kirby made the first move by charging straight for the left hand. Surprisingly, it made no sudden movements.

"Poyo!" Kirby realized the same trap it was trying to do.

The puffball sped past the hand, leaving it in confusion.

"What…?" it yelled.

Before it could give chase, Classic Kirby hopped onto the hand's back to distract it.

"Get off of me, you pest!" the left hand yelled while trying to wiggle off the other Kirby.

Rolling Kirby took this as an opportunity to strike. Classic Kirby was flung off just as Rolling Kirby rammed the left hand, knocking it back into the wall with incredible force.

The two Kirbys high fived each other before taking off from the arena, leaving behind a mass trail of unconscious clay monsters.

* * *

Elline sighed in frustration, coming to the conclusion that they were locked in the hallway.

"Why does this always happen to us!?" she threw her hands in the air and slumped onto the ground.

Bandana Dee remained silent from a distance away, in both frustration and sadness. But they couldn't give up hope, not when everything is on the line.

Unknown to them, the right grab hand was waking up slowly. It quietly gazed around the room and saw that Elline staring at one of the doors. Taking this moment as its chance, the grab hand rose up and prepared to catch the fairy.

* * *

"Is that all of them?" Mimosa asked.

Cyano and the cottas were mumbling to each other to make sure no one was missing.

"Yes, that's all of them." He replied.

"Including us, too." Said the three cotta chefs. During all the chaos, they managed to sneak out of their kitchen and join their brethren.

"Well, little cottas, let's get out of here before this machine blows! There's only—"

WARNING! WARNING! 10 SECONDS REMAINING!

The cottas instantly ran off. The only thing that was in control was the instinct and the instinct wanted to survive. After the last cotta exited the factory, Mimosa and Cyano sealed the door shut and took off with only 5 seconds left…

* * *

5…

Kirby and Kirby were retracing the path they were being chased on.

4…

The left grab hand was slowly getting up.

3…

Mimosa, Cyano and the cottas were running for cover.

2…

Bandana Dee notices that something was wrong…

1…

The waddle dee sees that Elline was about to be grabbed…

0!

Like Bastron, an explosion rocked the entire fortress. Everyone inside and outside felt the force of the blast including Claycia at the top. Debris began to fall from the ceiling. Mimosa used her flexible body to cover the cottas from the debris.

Kirby and Kirby stopped in their tracks, not from the explosion but from a strange white light surrounding them. The two looked at each other and noticed they were being pulled together by an invisible force. Both Kirbys waved goodbye to each other as they were merged back into one being. Kirby now can use his arms and legs (and his trademarked powers) once again and his hidden strength was reduced.

"Poyo!" Kirby yelled in glory before running off.

The left Grab Hand gasped because it realized that the explosion came from the Clayfission machine!

"Not… good…!" it moaned before flying away.

Meanwhile, the right hand froze in its tracks. It also realized the source of the explosion and flew away in a panic… not before opening the locked gate doors and leaving Bandana Dee and Elline in confusion.

"Wh-what was that!?" Elline stuttered.

"That sounded like an explosion." Bandana Dee got to his feet. "Something tells me that Mimosa and Cyano also managed to sabotage the fortress."

"I wonder if they and Kirby are okay…" Elline's eyes widened.

"I hope so…" Bandana Dee said. "We wouldn't have made it here without them."

"That means we have no time to lose. That explosion must have gotten rid of the colorless zone. Now we head back to the main tower!" Elline flew off.

"Be careful! Some of the laser traps might still be in effect!" Bandana Dee chased after the nimble fairy.

* * *

Claycia sighed in anger as she sensed the total chaos occurring in her fortress.

"Bumbling fools…" Claycia snarled. "Left and Right hands, report the incident now!"

"The… factory… exploded…" the right hand stuttered through telepathy.

"How is this possible!? I thought I told you not to have any living lifeforms in that thing."

"That's what… we thought… as well…" the left hand said.

"The... pink pest... perhaps...?" the right hand suggested.

Claycia sighed in anger. "No time for speculation. Just report back to Wonder Space. I'll have one more assignment for you two idiots."

Kirby appeared back in the main hallway, with the main tower in his sights. The colorless zone dissipated and there was an elevator that went straight up. Simultaneously, Elline and Bandana Dee appeared in the main hallway and saw an elevator on the other side.

The three of them entered the elevator, unknown of the other who entered. The three of them all had the same mindset despite not being together. Claycia is now in their sights and the end is at hand…

 **This is another chapter I don't like... because it stalled me for so long. Regardless, it** **ended up being as long as I predicted. There are only 4 more chapters left. I began writing each of them while writing this chapter. I shall see you guys in the next update, whenever it comes out...**


	19. The Void within the World

**When was the last time I've updated twice in a month? In fact, when was the last time I updated a week after the last chapter!?**

 **merendinoemiliano** **–** **You hope to see great fights you say? Hopefully, I'll be able to live up to your expectation :)**

 **KirbyPwnz1234 – Thanks again. Don't worry. I'm never giving up on this. If there's something I need to accomplish then I try and accomplish it no matter the time.**

 **FanficLovingPerson – Indeed, this is the novelization that you stumbled upon. It was supposed to be finished by like the end of 2017, but there were some complications that start with the two words "I'm lazy". I might as well mention that Fanfiction hasn't put "Elline" or "Claycia" in the story tag yet they have "Dark Crafter". It makes no sense lol. Lastly, that's another good point you made… there isn't a (discoverable) fanfic on the site that details the artist duo meeting Kirby's past friends…**

 **Anyways, now that those reviews are out of the way, we'll get right into it. I'm considering this to be one of my favorite chapters in my fanfiction. Simply because I had a lot of fun writing it. In addition, a neat detail that I really like from Star Allies made its way into this chapter (and beyond). You'll find out when you read.**

Chapter 19: The Void within the World

The floor moves, the air moves, the surrounding material become distorted as if it shouldn't be in the realm. Finally, the door opens and reveals an entirely different world that existed within the Purple Fortress tower.

They stepped out of the elevator and looked in all directions. The entire sky was a chaotic, garbled mess of red, blue and purple. The landscape appears unnatural to those who have never been in the realm. The gray ground was entirely made out of clay and strange multicolor coral-like substances grew in various places.

This was Wonder Space and this is where Kirby, Bandana Dee and Elline are located in. They have not however discovered each other because the elevator they were on put them on opposite sides of each other but the path leading out of it will connect to one central path.

It only took a few seconds for them to take a few steps forward, walk around the tower collide into each other because they weren't paying attention.

"Oww…" a light and feminine voice yelped.

"Ack…" a softer but deeper voice yelped.

"Poyoyo…" a light, high-pitched voice yelped.

The last voice got the other two's attention and the first two voices got the single life form's attention. They all turned towards each other and gasped at who they saw.

"Kirby!?" Bandana Dee and Elline gasped.

"Poyo!" Kirby gasped.

Before Kirby could move, he was tackled to the ground in surprise.

"KIIRBYY! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Elline squealed in excitement. "When you disappeared back on Red Volcano, I thought you were..."

She cried then squeezed even harder, not letting him move.

"po...yo..." Kirby stuttered. He was happy to see Elline and Bandana Dee again but he wasn't ready for the huge amount of affection. In fact, a blush crept up on his face.

Bandana Dee was overjoyed but he couldn't help but smirk to himself. "As you can see Kirby, someone was worried heavily about you."

Elline ignored the remark and didn't bother loosening her grip on the puffball. "Don't ever leave me like that again!" she cried.

"Poyo…" he nodded slowly in a daze.

* * *

Meanwhile… Claycia stood at her balcony shaking with fury over all the events that has transpired in a short period of time. The Grab Hands watch her apprehensively. They were called to report back to Wonder Space and the sculptress hasn't said anything since then.

"Those insolent fools annoy me to no end!" she finally outburst.

"uhh..." the left hand mumbled.

"First, they somehow sneak into my fortress and rescued that pink so-called hero, then they managed to blow up my army making machine! My Clayfission machine! And now my forces are being tossed around in confusion at this very moment and those Blue Sky cottas are nowhere to be seen!"

"Cl-claycia..." the right said.

"I-i-if… you allowed us… to investigate… that incident outside…" the left hand said.

"A different outcome… would happen… perhaps…"

"P-please… stay calm..." they pleaded

"At least…" Claycia continued, apparently listening to the hands' requests. "We're still winning because those fools have no idea that Popstar's color is hidden back on certain planets."

"So… what do we… do now…?" the left hand asked.

"They… are coming… here…" the right hand said.

"I have sent scouts to go out and retrieve the 3 shards of the color from those worlds before all of this happened." She stated. "But I've still yet to unlock this golden shard due to the intense resistance it possesses… almost as if it's waiting for something to occur." The sculptress mumbled to herself. "So I'll just accelerate the plans. Once you two take care of those three fools for good, order WILL resume."

"Yes… Claycia…" they replied.

"Now, destroy those pests… assuming they can survive this landscape and… other instances. Do not fail me again!" she warned. The Grab Hands nodded before departing from the balcony, passing through the hallway of colorless cotta statues and taking the elevator to the lower level of her small palace.

* * *

After what seemed to be an eternity long hug, Elline finally released Kirby from her grip. He fell to the ground and panted slightly, stilling blushing.

"I missed you so much." Elline placed her hands behind her back and looked down nervously.

Bandana Dee cleared his throat. "I feel like we have a lot to explain after what happened…"

He began describing the events that occurred since they were defeated on Red Volcano. Elline chimed in a few times to add her own insight. They talked about how Cyano and Mimosa helped them, how they snuck past the clay guards and how they almost found you the first time.

"…And then we entered the elevator and finally ended up here." The waddle dee finished.

Kirby then did his own explanation of what happened through body actions and occasional words. He included the fact that he ran into a few cottas that know Bandana Dee well, how he fell into the Clayfission machine and split his body into two, and used that to overpower the Grab Hands.

"You… split into two Kirbys?" Elline clarified, in which Kirby nodded.

"How did… you return to normal?" Bandana Dee asked.

"I… forgot… poyo." he mentioned which made the other pair even more confused.

"Well, at least despite all that has happened, we've still made it to this point." Elline sighed.

"Yes, but not all of us made it." Bandana Dee said. "We don't know what happened to the cottas and Mimosa."

"Agh, we have to help them." Elline said abruptly.

"They'll be fine, Elline." Bandana Dee reassured. "We have to remember who will be leading them to safety. And besides, we still have one more mission left."

"Well… I suppose you are right. And yes, we do… but what are we gonna do? I still don't want to fight Claycia." Elline looked down sadly.

"Poyo…" Kirby shook his head lightly.

"If it comes to that… then we have no choice." Bandana Dee sighed. "According to Mimosa, she's possessed by those glasses so we have to knock them off somehow."

"Right… that might be the only way." Elline said. "So, let's get going now. Claycia is somewhere in this strange world."

Kirby and Bandana Dee nodded. Elline raised her hand, signaling for a high five. The group gladly did so and proceeded down the path.

* * *

Purple Fortress was in a state of unrest after the Clayfission machine exploded. The clay specimens were scrambling around in confusion over what to do next. It was a game of pushing and shoving down the destroyed corridors and making it outside.

In the midst of all the chaos, a pink tentacle was extended out of a hill of debris. More tentacles popped out and moved off the marble ceiling debris until it was easily able to unbury itself.

Mimosa inhaled a breath of fresh air and circled above the pile. Soon enough, the rest of the cottas emerged while coughing, much to her relief.

"I sure hope the other two found Kirby and are in a safe place." She said while scanning the cotta group, making sure everyone is accounted for...

* * *

The trio walked down the clay trail and observed their surroundings of the realm. As they moved forward, parts of the path behind them would slowly vanish. The further they go, the more the path would blend in with Wonder Space. Eventually, they would no longer be able to see the elevator they entered from. Regardless, they would continue forward to find their goal.

It was hard to detect, but Wonder Space had multiple floating islands, similar to Blue Sky Palace's various clouds. The only difference is that there were significantly less platforms but they were much larger. The current platform they are standing on has a small mountain that is connected by various caves.

"This place just feels so… drab." Elline thought out loud. "Even though the amount of color here is infinite…"

"This is like a world within a world." Bandana Dee said as they entered the first cave. "No, a void within a world..."

"Poyo…" Kirby said in awe.

The trio walked through the passage, unaware of a creature staring at them from an unviewed angle.

"Hey Kirby…?" Elline asked.

"Poyo…?" he turned and responded to the fairy.

"I've always wondered—"

The fairy's question was cut extremely short when a giant tongue manifested out of nowhere and grabbed the puffball before he could even react. The tongue then retreated to the wall where the creature was waiting and swallowed him whole.

Elline and Bandana Dee stood in shock and horror for a few moments over what just happened. The three-eyed green creature stared at them with a grin.

"Kirby! I can't lose you again!" Elline yelled almost in tears.

"Oww…" Bandana Dee moaned.

"Poyo!?" Kirby gasped.

Elline turned around and saw Kirby standing on top of the face down Bandana Dee. He was in perfect condition.

The pair stared at each other for a moment, ignoring the groans of Bandana Dee before Elline snapped back to reality.

"Wait… what is that thing?" Elline turned back around to the green warpspace. The creature is silently staring at her as if nothing happened.

Bandana Dee forced himself up, throwing his pink friend off of his back and glared at the warpspace.

"Lemme show that thing who's the real hero!" The waddle dee prepped his spear and charged straight for the warpspace…

…Only for him to be snatched up by its tongue and be swallowed in mere seconds.

Elline and Kirby noticed a green esophagus-like cord that is connected to the warpspace attached to the wall. They followed Bandana Dee's travel path until he was right above them.

The pair quickly moved out of the way as the waddle dee crashed onto the ground.

"Are you okay?" Elline asked.

"I'm fine but that felt really weird." Bandana Dee said as he stood up.

"Poyo…" Kirby nodded his head in agreement.

The trio looked back at the warpspace and saw that it was continuously staring at them.

"If we can't fight it, we'll just avoid it." Elline transformed into her paintbrush form and drew a path above the 'point of no return'. Kirby tilted his head at Bandana Dee, who the latter shrugged and ran on the path. The puffball soon followed him and they moved on.

Unlike the last area, this one has a viewable red warpspace that was staring the trio down. Elline drew another path around the monster and the other two followed.

"If those weird creatures were there, then that means Claycia is up ahead." Elline stated.

"How do you know that?" Bandana Dee raised his brow.

"It's a hunch. Just know that it is true." She winked.

As she was backing up in the air, Kirby looked behind her and saw…

"Poyo!? Elline!" he warned.

Before the fairy could react, a massive tongue constricted her and pulled her into the warpspace. The outside duo could hear her groans as she travels through the tube on the wall. She eventually gets thrown out onto the ground in front of Kirby and Bandana Dee.

"No fair…" she moaned.

"I guess that 'hunch' was that monster waiting to gobble you too…" Bandana Dee joked, which caused Kirby to back up slightly in fear.

Elline rose up from the ground and wrapped the waddle dee in rainbow rope before he could even react. Then she shoved him into the warpspace's sight and he got gobbled up.

The fairy crossed her arms in annoyance and watched the poor waddle dee fall to the ground in pain.

"I... probably shouldn't have said that..." Bandana Dee muttered.

"I agree with you." Elline said, still a bit annoyed.

After that little fiasco, the trio climbed a small hill and appeared in a more open plain. They were higher up in the void based on the position change of the surrounding floating land. There were also plenty of green, red and blue warpspaces floating in the area. Each one of them stared at them in silence, which creeped Ellined out.

"These guys are so weird." Bandana Dee commented before Elline did. "Like, they can eat us then just let us go as if nothing happened."

"Yes, but do you think Claycia could be observing us through those creatures?" Elline gulped.

"I-i-if I say something… will you torment me again?" Bandana Dee gulped which caused Elline to giggle.

"Teehee, no I won't. Unless, it's another joke I don't like." Elline said.

"Uhh… whether she is watching or not doesn't matter…" Bandana Dee stated.

"Poyo…?" Kirby questioned.

"What do you mean?" Elline asked.

"They would have sounded an alarm or something, or be an actual threat instead of a nuisance." He finished.

"That… is a good point." Elline concurred. "I guess we'll never know their true purpose then…"

As the trio climbed the next hill, they glanced ahead of the next path and witnessed a monster they've never see before. Elline began to shiver and cower in fear, Bandana Dee gulped twice in succession and even Kirby widened his eyes in slight horror.

This monster was entirely gray in color. Its body shape resembled a typical cotta but it had none of the decorative designs around the body. In fact, the body was completely bare and bore a singular eye that has the exact same features as the Grab Hands' eyes. The most intriguing fact about this creature is the giant shield it carries. The frontal side is full of deadly clay spikes, preventing any head-on assaults from enemies. This shieldster is patrolling the corridor the trio has to move past.

"Th-th-th-there's no way I'm getting near that…!" Elline yelled in a whisper. "Bandana Dee, try using your spear against that monster!"

"Whaaaaat!? No way!" he rapidly shook his head. "What makes you think my spear can go against that!?"

"Well, I don't know…" she twirled her fingers. "You've always said your spear is unbeatable."

"It is but… only in context of what I usually fight…" the waddle dee somewhat clarified.

Kirby looked to his friends then back at the creature, who currently has it's back turned on them. This must be his only chance.

"Poyo..!" he commanded them to follow.

Bandana Dee and Elline only looked at each other which caused the puffball to sigh and charge straight for the shieldster.

"Kirby, wait!" Elline pleaded.

Kirby already took off. He rolled as fast as he could to gain power. Then he knocked down the unsuspecting shieldster, causing it to be piled up in its own clay.

"Poyo…!" the puffball signaled the other two again, in which this time they got out of their spots.

"I wasn't expecting it to be that easy to knock down this thing…" Bandana Dee said, causing a nod from his fairy friend.

The trio continued down the corridor while praising Kirby for his efforts. Unknown to all of them, the shieldster rose back onto its feet. It glances at the trio walking ahead of them before becoming enraged. The monster readies it's shield and began to charge at them.

The sounds of heavy steps wasn't unheard by the trio. They all slowly turned around and witnessed the monster charging at them in the same manner Kirby did mere moments ago.

"G-g-g-giant monster used Spiky Shield." Bandana Dee gulped. "It's super effective."

"I would throw you into that monster's shield if I wanted to. Let's just run before we become decorations on a wall!" Elline flew off first, followed by Kirby and Bandana Dee.

As they were running, the trio noticed that the monster was slowly catching up to them.

"For a big guy, he sure is fast!" the waddle dee breathed.

"We can't outrun the brute but we can outsmart it." Elline concluded. She pointed ahead at a cliff coming up fast.

The shieldster silently laughed at the fact that they were approaching an abyss. But what it didn't suspect is that they all jumped off the cliff and heard their screams into the unknown. The monster stopped at the cliff's edge then looked down and around. After concluding that they were gone, it went back to its post.

Directly underneath the cliff's edge, Kirby and Bandana Dee stood on a rainbow rope drawn by Elline who remains in paintbrush form to maintain the rope.

"I… think it's gone…" Elline broke the silence. "Let's move on now."

The pair nodded before Elline drew a path back onto the main road and continued their trek vigilantly through Wonder Space.

This next area was similar to the Red Volcano cavern where they would climb up on rocks or Elline's rope onto different passages. The first passage they climbed into had green warpspaces on either end, one for each side.

"Poyo…?" Kirby turned towards each warpspace.

"I wouldn't want stay here for long, based on our luck here so far." Bandana Dee warned.

As he predicted, gray clay materialized by one of the warpspaces. It then formed a shieldster that instantly took notice of the trio.

"As I predicted…" Bandana Dee sighed.

Elline wasted no time drawing a path upward. Each time they moved on to the next level, another shieldster was there waiting…

"Guys, look out!" Bandana Dee equipped his spear and managed to stop the frontal attack before anyone got hurt. Kirby and Elline turned around to see the waddle dee holding his own albeit barely.

Elline drew another path upward to what would be the top of this mountain. Bandana Dee followed after throwing off the pursuer and joined his friends.

"See, I told you your spear is unstoppable." The fairy beamed.

"I never doubted myself…" he hesitantly lied.

Elline crossed her hands and huffed in response.

The trio moved on and looked at their surroundings. It was difficult to tell but they have made some progress. However, it was still impossible to describe if they are heading on the right path.

There was another warpspace staring down the trio but around the corner was a shieldster guard blocking the only path forward.

"It looks like fighting those brutes was inevitable." Elline gulped.

"Poyo…" Kirby glanced at the warpspace then back at the sentinel being before an idea popped in his head.

He quickly rolled to the warpspace and allowed himself to get swallowed. Elline and Bandana Dee watched the tube and figured out where it was going.

"He can really figure out almost anything on the fly." Elline blushed lightly. "But we wouldn't have made it this far without each other's help."

Bandana Dee smiled, knowing that last statement was true. Despite everything that happened on their adventure, they braved it through together.

Kirby was fired directly on top of the shieldster and knocked it down momentarily. Elline and Bandana Dee wasted no time moving past it and sliding down the small hill that was behind it. The shieldster woke up soon after and resumed post after being unable to find out who knocked it down.

At the bottom of the hill, there are gondolas attached to a belt that leads them somewhere.

"There's no way I'm riding another one of those death traps!" Bandana Dee backed up nervously. "After what happened last time, I'm not risking myself falling into the abyss."

"Poyo…" Kirby gave his friend a disappointed look, which made the waddle dee shudder even more.

"L-l-listen Kirby, I know you want to help her out but count me out on this!" he stood firm.

Kirby and Elline looked at each other before shrugging. In the next few seconds, the poor waddle dee was forced onto the gondola see with Kirby leading the ride.

"I didn't sign up for this…" he gulped.

"No, but I did repaint you back on Popstar so I guess I made you come with me whether you like it or not…" Elline shrugged.

"She's entirely correct about that. All I did was try and warn Kirby about that colorless beam. _"_ He thought.

The familiar roller coaster begins with it going up slowly. The trio reminded dead silent as they were approaching the top of the arc. And before they knew it, they began riding down on a slope. They pasted by multiple warpspaces that were intently watching their ride. Bandana Dee was screaming the loudest out of the trio because of his fears. Kirby aligned the path whenever he needed to and Elline viewed more of Wonder Space since this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

The gondola ride eventually ended at another floating isle. Kirby jumped off his seat at relative ease, Elline remained calm but slightly scared and Bandana Dee looked like he saw a ghost.

 _"I can't believe I'm afraid of gondolas…"_ the poor waddle dee thought as he stepped out. _"But at least we aren't trapped in them like last time…"_

The new area they were at was composed of several floating islands. Each one of them were placed at a fair distance of each other. There was a larger island at the end of it all.

A strong wind suddenly blew by, enough to nearly blow Elline off the ledge. Luckily her pink savor came to the rescue.

"Thank you Kirby…" she blushed.

"Poyo!" he responded happily.

"This is a familiar scene. Jump from isle to isle on strong winds." Bandana Dee stated, apparently dropping all of the fear he had moments ago.

Last time, Elline hanged onto Bandana Dee's back. This time, (as a sneaky way to get close to him) Elline grabbed on to Kirby's hands to distribute the weight evenly and allow her to fly almost freely. Bandana Dee held onto Kirby's body to complete the formation. The waddle dee then jumped and allowed the wind and Elline to carry him. Elline then used this to move freely around.

"This is easier than I thought." Elline beamed.

"But can you manuever around those guys?" Bandana Dee signaled ahead.

Warpspaces that were twice the size of the ones they've been seeing were floating in the void, watching them as intently as their brethren.

"They're no problem… I hope." Elline gulped.

"Whaddaya mean, 'I hope'" Bandana Dee asked.

Elline said nothing as she carefully guided the other two around the warpspaces. As they hoped from isle to isle, she was able to see the island at a better view. It contains a small palace that was adorned in purple, yet it was falling apart.

"We're almost there guys." Elline reminded. "She's up ahead at that palace."

Kirby and Bandana Dee looked ahead with confident expressions.

She safely landed the group onto the island and they wasted no time taking off. The trail that leads to the palace contained an entry gate that was surrounded by purple fog.

"Poyo?"

"This fog looks unnatural for sure." Bandana Dee said.

"I can't see anything through it." Elline then tried to fly above it but the fog 'followed' her up. "Flying over it is no good."

"I guess our only choice is to brave through it." Bandana Dee sighed.

The trio took hands again and walked into the fog…

A few seconds later, they appeared on the other side as if nothing happened. The Wonder Space scenery changed slightly. There was a large planet orbiting something in the distance and the disoriented mix of color in the void has calmed down slightly.

"That was… unpleasant…" Elline spoke first.

"What in the world happened? I feel like my mind was tampered with…" Bandana Dee shook his head.

"Poyo…" Kirby swooned in a daze.

"At the same time, I felt like I conquered some turmoil within me. In fact, I feel more confident now." Bandana Dee declared.

"I agree!" Elline chirped. "Whatever happened in the fog seemed to help me battle my inner self."

"Poyo. Kaabi… is… great!"

"Let's move on now gang. We're almost at the destination. Claycia will be stopped and your color will return to your planet." The trio high fived each other then moved on.

The trio appeared onto a circular courtyard. There are colorless statues of the various types of enemies that were encountered on the adventure surrounding the area. The Grab Hands were floating in the center, apparently awaiting their arrival.

Kirby and Bandana Dee took their stances forward. Elline, however, remained in the back.

"Claycia… is up ahead…" the right hand said.

"But you will… never… make it…" the left hand said.

"Poyo!" Kirby yelled.

"Says you!" Bandana Dee yelled. "We've seen you guys one too many times already. It's time to finish this!" This earned a chuckle from both hands.

"It will be…" the right started.

"Our pleasure…" the left finished.

The pair of hands assumed their battle ready position once more and possibly for the final time against the trio…

 _Incompetent Lackeys_ – Grab Hands

Kirby and Bandana Dee ran forward at them. In response, the pair of hands split up and took their stances on the both sides of the courtyard. They then prepare their palms into a hand clap attack on Kirby. The puffball saw this a mile away and dodged the attack. Then, Bandana Dee charged forward with his spear to counterattack but they quickly separated before he could land it.

"Nice try…" The right hand said.

"We know… all about… your tricks…" the left hand said.

"Therefore…" the right hand started.

"We are… unbeatable…" the left hand declared.

Kirby and Bandana Dee could only glare at the hands. Elline however thought differently.

"It's too early to say that, you know." She yelled at them. "You'll never defeat my friends who have travelled so far to help me."

The left hand simply laughed at the girl. "What a… joke. I can't… believe… the master… want us… to catch you… missy."

Now it was Elline's turn to glare at them in anger, which only increased the Grab Hands' ego.

"Now… I'm really glad… that… it came to this…" they both said as they placed their full attention on Elline.

That little talk they had allowed Kirby to sneak around the two overconfident hands. He dashed straight into the left hand and knocked it back a fair distance.

"You… little pest…!" the left hand retaliated by quickly turning around and successfully grabbing Kirby.

"Poyo!" he screamed in pain as the left hand squeezed his body.

"Kirby, no!" Elline cried.

Luckily, Bandana Dee slipped in out of nowhere and stabbed the back side of the left hand, dropping Kirby and allowing him to get to safety.

This move costed him to get backslapped by the right hand, knocking him back a considerable distance.

"Poyo!" Kirby cried to his waddle dee friend.

"I'm okay, that was nothing." Bandana Dee stood up at ease.

"Oh really…" the right hand said as he readied a fist smash above the waddle dee.

Bandana Dee instantly rolled to the side to avoid being crushed. The right hand got stuck in the ground momentarily before removing itself, shaking its body and continuing the onslaught. This prompted the waddle dee to run around the arena to avoid being crushed.

Meanwhile, Kirby spread his arms wide in from of Elline and stared down the left hand right in front of him. It apparently tried to snatch Elline while she wasn't looking but Kirby caught the attack before it was too late.

"I admit… you were a… adversary… that I had fun with…" the left hand said. "Which is why… this fight… will be… glorious…!"

"Poyo…" Kirby grumbled.

"Kirby… please, win…" she whispered softly to him. The puffball smiled back at her encouragement. This smile calmed down Elline's stress. This also caused her to glow in a very faint color.

"Poyo?" Kirby looked around momentarily before fixing his eyes on his opponent. For some reason, he felt a familiar aura being spewed from somewhere...

The battle drags on with no end in sight. Bandana Dee could dodge the right hand's strikes but he couldn't successfully counter them with side steps and such because the right hand interprets them. Bandana Dee also could tell what moves he would use on him and he made sure not to clumsily lose his spear like last time.

On Kirby's side, a similar stalemate occurred. The left hand would lunge for him at any point but the puffball would dodge the strikes. He would then try and counter the attack but the left hand would fly out of reach and repeat the same strategy.

Meanwhile, Elline watched both sides closely in an effort to help. After observing the same pattern for a while she noticed something.

"Guys! Retreat back!" She warned.

"What!? Why?" Bandana Dee breathed in exhausted.

"Just trust me, please!" she pleaded.

After another round of the same moves, Kirby and Bandana Dee managed to break off and run back to Elline. The Grab Hands simply watched them go.

"Grr… they figured… us out…" the right hand said.

"How about… we use… our new toys… from Claycia?" the left hand suggested.

"N-new… toys?" Elline gulped.

"Yesss… fabulous idea… lefty…?" the right hand laughed.

The pair of hands joined together and spun around, creating a purple light that was emitting from their bodies. The trio covered their eyes until the light stopped. When they looked back, they gasped at what they saw.

The Grab Hands have grown some sort of purple clay armor around their bodies. Parts of their skin are barely visible and only their eyes are vulnerable. The drawback to this armor is that their mobility has slowed down immensely so they'll have to remain in place.

Bandana Dee and Elline were stunned at the transform but Kirby didn't falter. He rolled in to see what opening he could find. Bandana Dee followed after shaking his head out of his trance.

Their strikes were completely absorbed. The Grab Hands then knocked them back to where Elline was.

"Nooooo!" she yelled at the struggling duo.

"That's not all…" The hands said to the stunned trio.

Both hands opened their palms and began to materialize clay from out of nowhere. The lump of clay on their hands was then morphed together into a ball. This ball of clay had a small black face and its eyes are closed. The left hand tossed his clay ball first. Elline created a rainbow rope shield in protection.

The first clay ball weakened the shield immensely but it bounced off elsewhere, the second one utterly destroyed the shield and stopped it in place. This caught Elline off guard and she fell to the ground.

Kirby and Bandana Dee rushed to her side. To their relief, she stood up just fine.

"That was a strong attack. I can't create another barrier guys…" she sighed.

After seeing the weird physics of the clay ball, Kirby had an idea that was worth the risk.

"Poyo!" Kirby began rolling in a direction to distract the hands.

"Where are… you going…?" They yelled as they created another pair of clay balls.

"What is he up to?" Elline flew back into the air slowly but shakily.

"We're about to find out Elline." Bandana Dee replied.

The left hand tossed the first clay ball at Kirby. He instinctively dodged it and kept going. The right hand tossed the second clay ball directly at him which is what he was waiting for. Kirby ran into it, completely reversing the inertia due to physics not being a real thing in this fiction and sending it back.

The Grab hands couldn't process what just happened to them at that instant. The singular clay ball hit them both straight on, knocking them down and severely weakening them and their armor.

"We will not lose to you!" the hands yelled without pausing midsentence in their voices.

Both hands clasped fingers and prepared for one final attack. They then spun around rapidly and took aim at Bandana Dee and Elline. They then took off after them.

Bandana Dee and Elline gasped at their currently predicament. They were both exhausted to outrun the quickly approaching giant punch. The duo braced themselves for an impact…

…That never came. They slowly opened their eyes and saw the Grab Hands frozen in air in complete shock. There was a strange rainbow light surrounding them. Kirby came right to their sides and was equally as amazed as they were. In addition, Elline's body faintly glowed again and nobody noticed.

"Wh-wh-what!?" they yelled. "We can't move!"

They then fell to the ground in a complete daze. The remaining pieces of their armor have been stripped off and the faint glow around Elline disappeared again.

"What… just… happened?" Elline broke the silence.

"Poyo?" Kirby shrugged.

"Well… let's finish this then?" Bandana Dee asked.

Kirby and Bandana Dee took their stances by the confused Grab Hands. They then landed their respective and yet devastating blows to their eyes, defeating them once and for all.

The Grab Hands screamed in agony before falling silently with purple smoke being emitted from their eyes. Eventually, their bodies turned gray and they exploded. The trio shielded their eyes from the blast, and then looked back at where they originally were.

"We… we did it." Elline said in realization. "We beat them."

"Poyo!" Kirby performed his signature pose.

"The strange part about that fight is that I don't feel exhausted at all." Bandana Dee stated. "Even though it was so long and drawn out."

"The stranger part was when the hands froze in midair and became weak." Elline said. "What in the world happened? It looked like some outside power was in effect."

Before they could ponder more about the mystery, the trio began to hear someone clap their hands from somewhere. They looked up and saw Claycia slowly descending upon them.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here." The sculptress snarled. "The weak little paintbrush accompanied by her so-called pink hero and tag-along vermin has showed up to my doorstep at last."

Kirby and Bandana Dee readied themselves for another fight while Elline stared at her with fear.

"Despite their efforts from not only this fight but since I extracted Popstar's color, my hands have only defeated you once… and that victory means nothing now." Claycia snarled at the last statement. "The funny part is that… they'll still be a somewhat useful asset to me…"

As the sculptress said that, her pinkish scarf began to levitate slightly on their own. Two purple hands were then grown out of the each of the scarf's ends, both hands resemble the Grab Hands but are much smaller than they were before. The Grab Hands are now a part of Claycia herself.

"C-claycia?" Elline stuttered at the new appearance.

"Come you fools." Claycia ignored the pleading fairy. "If you really have the courage to battle me now, go to the top of my palace. I shall await your destruction… mmmhmmhmm…. Hahahahah!" Claycia flew upwards and seemingly disappeared in the void of Wonder Space.

 **It's time. The battle we've all been waiting for. And it only took about 2 years to release. The Star Allies' splash screen art before each boss battle was a really cool idea. So I incorporated it, somewhat, into this boss fight. I guess all that stalling really did help.**

 **Depending on how things go, I'll do a double chapter upload. Either 20 and 21 or 21 and 22 will be released simultaneously. It's something I've been meaning to do since the start but I couldn't for obvious reasons.**


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